


Standing in the Sun

by HazHas4Nips



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Anal Sex, Blindfolds, Blowjobs, Closeted Louis, Drinking, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Kink Exploration, Kink Negotiation, M/M, Masturbation in Bathroom, Orgasm Denial, Playboy Louis at the beginning, Praise Kink, Rimming, Scandal AU, Semi-Public Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-05-07 16:59:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 37,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14675484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HazHas4Nips/pseuds/HazHas4Nips
Summary: A Shonda Rhimes' Scandal AU-inspired story:Louis Tomlinson is running for Vice President, and the public sees him as the handsome, friendly boy-next-door candidate who they'd love to have dating their daughters. He's "happily" married to Supreme Court Justice Jade Thirlwall, and everything about his life is picture-perfect.That is.... until one drunken night when he makes a little slip-up that could cost him his career. His assistant, Zayn, calls in London's premiere political Fixer who happens to be in town, Harry Styles, and his associates, Niall Horan and Liam Payne.They expect it to be a quick and easy cover-up, paying off the right people to keep quiet, and closing the case quickly. Unfortunately, nothing with Louis Tomlinson is ever boring and uncomplicated.As Harry and his team stay around to help clean up the mess Louis' left in his trail, Louis and Harry wrestle with keeping their relationship strictly professional while figuring out things about themselves they were totally unaware of.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!!!
> 
> I will add overall tags as they appear in the story, but there will be no violence in this story of any sort and all sex will be consensual so don't worry too much please.
> 
> This has been a real trial for me, and I've been going back and forth between just abandoning it or finishing it. So if you could take a second and let me know that you want me to continue, I would so greatly appreciate it.
> 
> Title from Scandal's classic motif, how they always reference how Olivia Pope's ultimate happiness was when she was "Standing in the Sun."
> 
> Please be nice; this is my first multichapter story, so that's cool. Leave me comments (if they are nice because I am fragile and insecure). I love making friends and talking to fell Ot5 stans
> 
> A note: I don't like when fics make them American rather than English (it's just a personal thing, I'm sorry), but I actually am American so I didn't know enough about the British government to make this take place in England. I tried to add some little explanations for why Louis might sound British and say things like "arse" or "mum" but like it's really not that big of a deal so if it's confusing to you, just ignore it.
> 
>  
> 
> Manips credit to owners - I do not own or have not created any of the manips used throughout. All credit goes to the creators for their amazing work.

“Fucking hell,” Louis mutters, blindly reaching around trying to find his phone in the dark. What time is it? Who the hell is calling at this time? It's still dark out, and Louis feels like he just fell asleep minutes ago, so whoever is calling at this goddamn hour better have a very good goddamn reason.

Finding his phone where his drunken self flung it onto the floor last night, he squints at the screen, the bright light hurting his hungover head, and sees that it’s his chief of staff, Zayn.

He also sees that it’s 4:47 am, so fuck that. Louis groans and closes his eyes again, deciding to make Zayn call a couple times before he answers. As the ringing stops, Louis prays that Zayn will just wait until a more reasonable time to call again.

No such luck; Louis’ phone starts vibrating and ringing loudly. Groaning, Louis decides he should just answer it, not because he cares about what Zayn has to say but because he can’t stand the incessant ringing of his phone with his barely awake yet already throbbing head.

“This better be fucking important,” Louis grunts out, rolling onto his back and swinging an arm over his face in exasperation.

“I’m on my way over,” Zayn answers.

“Zayn, come back at like 11. Let me sleep. I’m hungover as shit. I know there’s nothing on the schedule until afternoon. Whatever this is can wait.”

Louis rolls over onto his stomach, burying his face in the pillow while Zayn starts going off on some long-winded explanation about why Zayn couldn’t just be a normal fucking person and wait until a normal person time of day to work. Or at least, that’s what Louis assumes he’s rambling on about because otherwise he doesn’t care.

He’s way too hungover for Zayn’s nitpicking.

Louis is considering leaving Zayn on the phone and just falling back asleep, or maybe wandering down to his kitchen to get something to eat, but his reveries are cut short when he hears four specific words, “they know you’re gay.”

Bolting up to a sitting position, Louis grabs the phone off the pillow and tries not to shout, “WHAT?!” He hears Zayn sigh on the other end, clearly realizing that Louis did not listen to anything he had just said.

“I’ll be there in seven minutes. Please put some clothes on and meet me in your office.” And with that, Zayn hangs up on Louis.

Louis can feel his heart beating incredibly loudly in his chest, and he feels dizzy and headachey, not just from the hangover any longer. Rubbing his eyes and sighing loudly, Louis swings his legs off the bed, pulling himself to his feet. He turns on his bedside lamp and begins searching around in a dresser for something to wear. It’s not like Zayn has never seen Louis naked, but they occasionally do have to maintain a semblance of a professional relationship sometimes, and Louis figures that now isn’t the time to test Zayn’s patience.

In a fog of shock, sleepiness, and leftover alcohol thrumming throughout his body, Louis stumbles around until he’s dressed in an oversized Oxford Law sweatshirt and Adidas joggers, running his hand through his hair a few times and splashing some water on his face.

He goes into his giant kitchen to make himself a cup of Yorkshire, still in a haze. He doesn’t especially know what’s going on so he figures he shouldn’t start panicking….. yet.

Right as the water reaches a boil, he hears the back door unlocking and opening as Zayn lets himself in. He dips his teabag in and tries to prepare himself for Zayn inevitably yelling at him. He stares intensely into his mug of tea as he hears Zayn’s footsteps approaching the kitchen and finally stopping as he stands directly in front of Louis. Louis braces himself, unable to make eye contact with Zayn, but he’s surprised to be met with complete silence.

Confused about why Zayn’s not tearing Louis apart right now, Louis finally looks up and sees how fucking tired Zayn looks; hair pulled back with a thin headband, old ratty band t-shirt, and leggings hugging his toned legs. He doesn’t look angry, and that’s what worries Louis.

He looks exhausted.

“Zayn---,” Louis starts, but Zayn waves a hand to stop Louis.

“Let’s go into your office,” Zayn says, a little too calmly if you ask Louis.

Nodding, Louis allows Zayn to lead him out of the kitchen and into his home office. Louis plops down onto the lush couch as Zayn starts pacing around the room.

Louis wants to ask what’s going on, but he also understands that Zayn will start talking when he’s ready.

Louis starts tapping his foot quickly, anxiety rising within him. Zayn always knows what to do; Zayn always has an answer. And the fact that Zayn seems to be worried is really worrying Louis.

Plus he still doesn’t know what the fuck is going on, but Zayn’s words, _gay gay gay gay_ , are pounding through Louis’ head. He’s way too tired and hungover for whatever the fuck is going on, and he just wants someone to tell him what the fuck is going on so that he can go back to sleep for maybe the next century.

Suddenly, Zayn’s phone lights up, and he answers it half way through the first ring, stepping out of the office to speak in a hushed tone. Louis, always the nosy diva, strains to hear what Zayn is saying.

To his surprise, Louis hears Zayn walking away and opening the front door. Zayn is now speaking to someone he leads into the house, their hushed voices getting a bit louder as they get closer to the office.

The door opens and in walks Zayn, leading a blonde man and a muscular man. Louis is about to ask who the hell these people are, but then a third man walks into the room and Louis’ entire life turns upside down.

Louis literally forgets how to breathe as he watches the most beautiful man in the entire world enter his office. This man is tall and lean, muscular but slim, and he’s got the softest looking curly chocolate hair that hangs down to his shoulders. His eyes are vibrantly green and his lips, god, his lips. The things Louis wants to do to those lips and have them do to him.

 _Fuck_. Louis suddenly can’t hear anything, can’t see anything else, except for this beautiful man as he storms into Louis’ office, barking orders left and right. Louis stares as this man walks over to shake Zayn’s hand firmly, both exchanging heated, quick words.

Louis’ eyes follow his every movement as the gorgeous man begins to speak to the other two, who Louis assumes are his assistants but also he can’t be bothered to care about anyone in this entire world other than this curly-haired goddess before him, using animated hand gestures as he gesticulates whatever he’s ordering them to do.

This man continues talking, completely ignoring Louis, and Louis can’t have that. He thrives off of the attention of others; that’s what made him originally motivated to accept the Vice Presidential candidacy.

Louis feels unsettled, wanting to take control of this situation, which snaps him out of his lustful gazing and reminds him that he doesn’t know who this man is or what the fuck is going on.

At that moment, Zayn sinks down on the couch next to him, holding his head in his hands. Louis figures that he should feel bad for Zayn, should feel bad that something he’s done has made Zayn this stressed out, but right now the only person who exists in his world is that green-eyed angel who is now talking to the blonde man.

Leaning over to Zayn, Louis whispers, “Who _is_ that?”

Zayn slowly turns to Louis, rubbing his eyes once before he looks from Louis to the man and back to Louis. Zayn puts his hands on his knees, huffing as he pushes himself to his feet. He walks over to the man, puts his hand on the man’s bicep as he leans in to whisper in his ear.

Louis shocks himself as he feels a flame of jealousy erupt in his gut at the fact that Zayn is so intimately touching this man when Louis is sitting alone on the couch.

When Zayn and the man pull away from each other, the man turns to look at Louis for the first time, and Louis swears he’s gone to Heaven because no one this perfect could possibly exist on Earth.

The man opens those plump, too-pink lips and seems to be addressing Louis directly. Louis blinks several times-- his brain must still be moving a bit slowly from the remnants of alcohol, he reasons-- and focuses in on this beautiful man before him.

The man sticks out his hand and a deep, entirely too sexy to be real, voice says, “Harry Styles.”

Louis’ breath catches in his throat as he realizes that Harry has an adorably sweet British accent. Despite being born in America, having British parents and spending a significant amount of his childhood and college-education in England, Louis feels particularly affected by the familiarity of Harry’s accent.

Louis dumbly rises to his feet, reaching forward to grasp the man’s hand, and his heart skips about a hundred beats as his skin makes contact with this man’s--Harry’s-- hand. Harry has a firm grasp, and Louis can’t help but imagine how those hands would feel all over, and inside, his body.

Louis just nods curtly, worried that if he says anything his voice might crack and reveal how aroused he is just at the sight of Harry.

He continues to stare at Harry, at his lips more precisely, as the man starts talking, and Louis knows he should be listening but all he can think about is Harry Styles… no, Harry Tomlinson. It has a very nice ring to it, if you ask Louis. And jeez, he didn’t know this man three minutes ago, and he’s already imagining their future together? He must still be drunk.

He can’t help but wonder what this man looks like, what he sounds like, when he first wakes up. Or better yet, when he comes. Fuck, Louis figures that he must be absolutely stunning, even more so than he is right now, when he orgasms, and Louis’ breath hitches as he imagines being the one to bring Harry to orgasm.

Louis can’t help but rake his eyes up and down Harry’s body, noting the tattoos poking out from where Harry’s shirt is left several buttons undone and lusting over the curves of Harry’s legs in those illegally tight jeans.

Louis gulps slowly as he realizes that he needs to stop staring at Harry’s body. Even when he tears his eyes away and looks to the ground instead, Louis can’t help imagining how pretty Harry would look, bent over Louis’ desk, begging for Louis to fuck him.

Shit, it’s been too long since Louis properly fucked someone. Between being officially “straight” and being shorter than most tops, Louis has found it difficult to find someone who will allow Louis to really take control in the bedroom like Louis so desires.

When Louis was still in college, he had explored the BDSM scene and had found that he had quite a passion for dominating someone in bed. What he had really been attracted to, though, was the trust a sub had to put into their dom. Call Louis a sap, but the idea of being in such a strong, committed relationship that someone would trust Louis enough to have Louis take care of his entire wellbeing had made Louis come on more than one occasion.

Louis snaps out of his daydream when he notices that Harry has stopped talking and now is just looking at him with a frown on his face, waiting for Louis to pay attention. 

Staring into Louis' eyes and speaking pointedly, almost as if to a young child, Harry says, "Here are the rules. You are going to stay in this house. No phone calls-- not to work, not to friends, not to press,  _no one_. This is on us now. Your job is to stay inside and let us do our job. I have one rule-- do not lie. You lie, all bets are off. Got it?"

Louis blinks a moment, completely unsure what this man is even going on about right now, and then glances over at the clock and notes that it’s now 5:23. Shit, it is still so fucking early. Louis also realizes that everyone is looking at him expectantly, and he has no idea what the fuck is going on, who these people are, and why they're here. Harry had a nice speech all prepared there, but it all went completely over Louis' head. 

Louis looks to Zayn, and Zayn looks from Louis to Harry and back to Louis. Zayn must realize what’s going on because he gently moves over to sit next to Louis on the couch. He looks directly into Louis’ eyes, causing Louis to shiver at the intensity, before Zayn explains.

“Harry’s a Fixer. From England. But luckily he was here for a different job. He-- uh, politicians or, uh, other important people hire him when they, uh, need something-- when they need a problem fixed. Crisis management.”

Zayn raises his eyebrows like he’s expecting Louis to understand now, but Louis is just more confused. Zayn has never called in for backup. Zayn can handle anything. So what is so bad that Zayn had to have a strange, yet beautiful, man come to Louis’ personal home at the asscrack of dawn to “fix” whatever?

Louis hasn’t spoken this whole time, and he barely manages to choke out, “What does he need to fix?”

All faces in the room suddenly drop, almost identical looks of both pity and embarrassment. Zayn glances to Harry, and Harry gives him a slight nod. Without further ado, Zayn pulls out his phone and holds it out to Louis. Glancing around once more at the three men he doesn’t know in the room, Louis reaches out and takes Zayn’s phone.

Louis is honestly impressed he doesn’t have a heart attack, or a panic attack, or stop breathing, or just die on the spot when he sees what Zayn’s pulled up. It’s a photo, taken from above, showing Louis pressed up against a bathroom stall, a man on his knees in front of Louis, blowing him.

Louis blinks several times at the photo, willing it to go away. Unfortunately it’s still right there. His own dick is staring him right in the face.

Harry’s deep, slow voice cuts through Louis’ shock. “The Sun is threatening to print this in tomorrow’s paper.”

Louis looks up at him, still unable to form words to answer. He opens his mouth a few times, blubbering like a blowfish dumbly. At this point, Harry’s sweet, angelic face molds into a mask of frustration. He’s clearly upset that Louis hasn’t said or done much, but instead of scaring Louis, it sends him back into a fantasy.

Harry just looks so fucking cute when he’s angry, and Louis can’t help but want to rile him up more. He wants to know what Harry looks like when he’s really worked up. Louis really wants to work Harry up, in several meanings of the phrase.

And, as anyone close to Louis can tell you, he’s never been very good with confronting his own problems. He’s built his entire life on his ability to handle other people’s issues, yet when it comes to dealing with his own, he does everything he can to avoid dealing with it.

So instead of taking this more seriously, as he knows he should, Louis merely smirks and directs his answer to Harry. “Like what you see?” he says as he shakes the phone in Harry’s direction.

Harry chokes at this, quickly turning it into a cough to save face. He has a job to do, and he can’t let anyone in the room question his authority.

Harry spits out, “Is this funny to you? Do you realize how this could ruin your career? You fucked up, and it’s my job to fix that, so you can either shut the fuck up and sit pretty, or you can have your entire life ruined.”

Louis can’t help but smirk at this outburst, feeling way too excited about how fucking cute Harry gets when he’s angry. It calms him down to focus on riling Harry up rather than admitting he fucked up.

Louis figures that Harry is trying to sound intimidating, but to Louis, he just seems like a frustrated toddler, or maybe an angry kitten. So Louis smiles, standing up smoothly and walking directly towards Harry, crowding him into Louis’ desk.

“I figure you’re about to tell me how fucked I am, love. But I’d much rather discuss fucking you.” He reaches out to slide a hand down Harry’s muscular arm, and Harry watches Louis make contact with him, staring with lust? Disgust? Louis can’t really tell.

Shaking Louis off, Harry fixes him with a deadly glare, making Louis’ heart swell slightly. He loves how much of an affect he is having on Harry, and he knows he should be more worried about the severity of this situation, he really does, but he literally can not think of anything besides Harry.

Suddenly hands are on Louis’ shoulders, spinning him around. Zayn is face to face with him, shaking with rage as he screams about how Louis is going to be the fucking Vice President of the fucking United States of fucking America! He can’t be fucking around with random guys in bars. And what the fuck, Lou? He’s so fucking stupid sometimes. How did he not notice someone with a fucking camera in the fucking stall next to them?

Louis knows, really, that Zayn is right. And he knows that Zayn’s reacting so strongly because Zayn knows him, knows he likes to hide from his problems behind a mask of haughty disinterest.

Louis completely deserves everything Zayn is spewing at him, but it doesn’t make him feel any better. Then Zayn says something that sends the entire room into a frenzy, “How the fuck is this going to look for Jade, Lou? Hmm? You’ve fucked over her career now, too.”

Harry’s leaning against Louis’ desk, and his head snaps up at this. “Jade?” he asks. Zayn and Louis stare each other down until Zayn breaks first, turning towards Harry.

“Been keeping up with the American election, Mr. Styles?”

Harry shakes his head “no” slightly, saying, “Been a little busy back in London meself. Haven’t really had a chance to engage in the rest of the world’s drama.”

Zayn glances back at Louis once before responding, “Jade is Louis’ wife.” Louis watches as Harry’s face seems to go through several emotions at the same time: shock, confusion, awe, and finally anger.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Harry whispers out through gritted teeth, “So you forgot to mention that this isn’t just an issue of a gay cover up. This is a fucking cheating scandal. A sex scandal where the Vice Presidential candidate cheated on his wife with a random fucking man?”

Harry is glaring at Louis, and Louis really shouldn’t feel as endeared as he does right now. He’s more than pleased to have Harry’s full attention on him, and instead of shying away at Harry’s clear disgust at Louis’ situation, he gives Harry another complete body scan, making sure that Harry knows exactly what Louis’ doing.

Pushing up and off the desk, Harry begins pacing the room, deep in thought. He runs his hands over his face and through his pretty curls which Louis really wants to tug on as he’s balls deep inside Harry.

But, no. Even though he’s acting like he’s more interested in seducing Harry than addressing the reason they’re all there, he didn’t build his successful career by letting his love for pretty boys overrule his sensibilities.

Louis may be bratty and mischievous, but he has worked extremely hard to get to this point in his career, and he truly does not want to jeopardize it. Right now he recognizes that he is purposefully not focusing on the issue at hand because if he did, he’d probably have a complete break down.

Just while he’s finally decided to stop ogling Harry and start working to save his career, Louis notices that Harry, now, is the one staring at Louis intently. Louis can’t help as he winks at Harry once they make eye contact.

And that’s it. Harry throws his hands up in the air with an exasperated grunt and announces, “Let’s take a five minute break so _some parties_ involved might finally realize that this isn’t a fucking game.”

Everyone nods, avoiding Harry’s eye contact after his outburst. Harry walks swiftly over to Zayn, saying something quietly while their heads are bent intently towards each other. Louis sees Zayn motion down the hall, and then Harry’s hurrying out of the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry slams the bathroom door shut, anxiously running his hands through his long hair. He leans against the door and tries to take a few steadying breaths. Fuck, this is so unprofessional. Here he is, in a client’s house, with a fucking hard on.

Groaning inwardly but making sure to prevent any real noises from leaving his mouth, Harry lightly bangs his head against the door, trying to snap out of whatever the fuck is going on here.

He is a professional.

He is the best at what he does.

He can fix any situation.

That is, apparently, any situation that doesn’t involve the sex god Louis Tomlinson in the flesh.

Obviously he had been aware of Louis Tomlinson before tonight. He tried to keep up on world news, but recently he’d been dealing with personal and professional issues, so he had fallen behind a little bit. He remembered hearing that the Democratic candidate’s choice for VP was someone named Louis Tomlinson, but other than that he didn’t really know anything else about the man.

He’d been in DC to help an old colleague of his, and he’d definitely been surprised to wake up to a phone call at 4am. Never one to turn down a challenge, Harry’s curiosity was what convinced him to answer his cell despite the ungodly hour. Besides, Harry was a morning person, so he probably would have been awake in a couple hours any way.

Let’s just say that he was very intrigued when he found out that it was the head assistant to America’s leading Vice Presidential candidate on the phone. Intrigued enough to get out of bed and gather his team.

In any other circumstance, Harry would be buzzing at this opportunity. It should be an easy enough job, nothing they haven’t handled before; they’d just get Louis to fork over some money to keep the tabloids quiet, but things had already gotten complicated. And Harry wasn’t thinking about the wife he had just found out about.

This job was completely complicated because Louis Tomlinson was by far the sexiest person Harry had ever seen. He was at once both so soft and so hard; all cheekbones and jawlines contradicted with a soft, boopable nose and big, immensely blue eyes. And he was fucking curvy. Shit, Harry hadn’t seen much of him because Louis spent most of their short time together sitting down, but Harry could see the swell of Louis’ thighs and that gorgeous bum.

But most of all, Harry was so drawn to the way Louis commanded a room. Despite the awful circumstances of this situation, Louis seemed to be holding himself together pretty well. He was so fucking confident. And so flirty.

Harry reasons that Louis has been flirting with him because he’s clearly a sexually-repressed asshole who thinks he’s entitled to anything he wants, but Harry can’t deny the heat he felt coursing through his body under Louis’ stern gaze.

Harry bangs his head against the wall a couple more times before pushing off the door and turning on the sink. He splashes some cold water on his face, trying to calm himself down. He may be faced with the hottest man in the world, but he isn’t fucking fifteen any more, jeez. He shouldn’t be popping boners out of control like he is now.

It’s not like he hasn’t worked around handsome men before. And this isn’t the first client Harry’s been attracted to. And he’s not ashamed to admit that he enjoys a good fucking from a handsome man periodically. But this is the first time he’s been so out of control in a work situation, all because some man talked back to him? He didn’t know why that was such a turn on for him, but Harry couldn’t stop thinking about how controlling and captivating Louis Tomlinson was.

Hands shaking slightly, Harry decides he just needs to take care of his unfortunate situation so that he can carry on with business as usual. He manages to unbutton his pants and shoves them down.

He’s not wearing underwear, so his cock immediately springs free. Shit, he’s already completely hard just from looking at Louis and hearing his seductive voice. He hasn’t been this hard since he first started wanking years ago.

Gripping himself tightly, he begins working his hand over his length, unable to think of anything except Louis’ bright eyes and soft-looking lips. Unsatisfied with the current situation, Harry unhands himself to spit into his palm, using his own spit as lube. This is creating a much better slide against Harry’s hard dick, and he has to bite down on his lip to keep from moaning out.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Harry imagines that it is Louis’ hands rubbing him off right now. That it is Louis’ wrist flicking over the head of Harry’s cock and Louis’ strong fingers pressing into the slit at the top of Harry’s dick.

Harry takes some creative liberties and begins to imagine what Louis is like in bed. He remembers the way Louis had backed him into his desk just moments ago, and Harry imagines what it would be like to have Louis bending him over that very desk. He’s a shameless bottom, and he’s already had a bit of a workplace fantasy.

He imagines that Louis would hold Harry down on the desk, preventing him from moving, only using Harry to get himself off. Harry shivers at the thought of just being a hole, a play thing for Louis to use when he wants him. He imagines the way little gasps would escape Louis’ lips while Harry’s on his knees, letting Louis fuck his throat raw.

Louis had seemed so cool and collected during their brief encounter, but Harry wanted to think of Louis getting riled up,  getting so worked up he just has to have Harry that exact moment. He wants an angry Louis to pound into him, fucking him so hard he can’t walk straight for days.

Harry reckons that Louis would be possessive, would want Harry to know that he is his only. Harry, knowing that he can be quite a flirt, fucks into his own fist as he imagines how responsive Louis would be if Harry flirted with other men.

Harry’s never reckoned that he was the type to like his partner being possessive and controlling, but he also reckons he’s never been this hard just from his hand and some dirty thoughts. It’s weird for Harry, that he’s so uncontrollably attractive to Louis, but as he feels the heat in his gut building, he doesn’t really question it too much.

He pumps himself faster, wanting to get off as soon as possible, and as he feels his impending orgasm, his legs start shaking and his throat grows dry. He takes his other hand and reaches behind himself, just running his hands lightly over his hole, teasing himself as he rubs around the quivering muscle.

He imagines it’s Louis teasing him, working him up with only his pretty little hands. As his finger catches on his rim, he imagines Louis, on his knees behind him, spreading his cheeks to get a look, to get a taste. It’s the thought of Louis’ mouth on Harry’s most intimate part that has Harry coming in Louis’ private bathroom, biting his lip until he tastes blood to prevent himself from shouting out Louis’ name.

As he takes a few shuddering, deep breaths, Harry tries to bring himself back to the current moment. _What the hell_. He just jerked off to the thought of his newest client, only moments after first meeting with said new client. He needs to pull his shit together.

He already feels more relaxed after coming, and hopefully all he needed was to jerk one out and now he’ll be over this instant, intense attraction he felt to Louis. It is just a silly little crush. He is just sleepy and stressed. That’s all that is.

Harry washes his hands and looks at himself in the mirror, finding his hair a mess, his eyes blown wide with lust, and his bottom lip swelling up slightly from where he bit it to hold in his moans.

Sighing audibly, Harry splashes a bit more water on his face and reaches into his pocket to pull out a hair tie. He pulls his long curls back into a bun and slaps both of his cheeks a couple times to clear his head.

Checking himself out in the mirror one more time, he determines that he doesn’t look too obviously guilty of fantasizing about Louis just moments ago. He shakes his head, hoping to physically rid himself of his impure thoughts before he rejoins the group.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s now almost 11:00 am of that same day. Louis wasn’t able to go back to sleep, and despite the copious cups of tea he’d consumed, he still feels tired all the way down to his bones. His head is throbbing, his stomach hurts, his heart hasn’t stopped pounding at a million beats per minute since this morning, and above all, he truly wishes that he hadn’t gone out to that stupid fucking bar last night.

If he hadn’t gone out last night, he wouldn’t be hungover now. If he hadn’t gone out last night, he wouldn’t have been woken up at 4:30 am. If he hadn’t gone out last night, his future career as one of the most powerful men in the entire world wouldn’t be in jeopardy. If he hadn’t gone out last night, his biggest secret wouldn’t be about to be aired to the entire globe.

But also, if he hadn’t gone out last night, he never would have met Harry. And for that, Louis really can’t complain. Despite the circumstances, Louis knows he can’t regret anything that has brought this beautiful boy into his life, into his heart. He’s only known Harry for a few hours, and he’s already completely enamored and endeared by everything Harry does, something that never happens to Louis. Louis prides himself on his ability to separate sexual attraction and feelings, but already, Louis’ feelings for Harry have blown out of proportion.

When they had reconvened this morning after Harry’s break, everyone had seemed to cool off a bit, and they were able to have a more calm, productive conversation.

Louis, with several interruptions from Zayn, had managed to explain to Harry and his team (Louis has learned now that the blonde haired man is named Niall and he’s Irish, and the muscular man is named Liam) the events leading up to those incriminating photos.

Apparently Louis went out almost every night, switching up the location of the restaurant, bar, or club. His platform as Vice President was that he was a people’s person; he was young, attractive, with an attractive wife, and the public was naturally drawn to him. Running with the slogan of “being a regular guy” and of moving the country forward, Louis’ socialite status had actually, to Harry’s surprise, somehow managed to gain him popularity with the American public.

Also shocking to Harry, the fact that Louis had spent most of his life in England, not America, had drawn him support from the public, probably because it appears fancy or sophisticated or however Americans’ fetishized Brits.

Harry’s pretty sure that Louis’ the favorite only because everyone has a giant crush on him, but Harry can’t blame them.

Apparently, as far as the public knows, Louis goes out to different venues each night, meeting with people and buying his new friends drinks. The public sees him as this good-natured, kind-hearted, boy next door. What they don’t see is the way he looks at the attractive men he’d buy drinks.

Harry was a bit skeptical, considering the way that Louis had so explicitly been flirting with him since they met, but Louis claimed this was the first time he’d acted upon his lustful glances at the handsome men who all seemed to be drawn to Louis wherever he went.

Louis stuck by his story that he had just gotten especially drunk last night, to the point that he threw caution to the wind, and when one particularly handsy guy offered to blow him, he just wasn’t a strong enough man to say no.

Niall, who Louis quickly learned is very energetic and outgoing, had wanted them to sue the tabloid and the man who had taken the picture for violation of privacy and probably the bar too for good measure… “or someone else, anyone for fuck’s sake,” as Niall so eloquently shouted.

The problem was that the tabloid refused to name their source, and Louis had had no idea that anyone else was in the bathroom while last night’s events unfolded. In hindsight, he probably could have been a bit more discrete, but how was he supposed to know that people would be such absolute garbage as to climb into the stall next to them to snap a picture of their private moment?

Besides, Harry pointed out that suing would only drag out this scandal. No, the easiest and most effective thing to do was just to pay off the tabloid, to get all the pictures they have for an appropriate sum.

Louis had honestly been shocked by how quick and simple of a solution this was, but he reminded himself that Harry was supposedly the best at his job. Louis couldn’t help but wonder what other types of jobs Harry was good at….

Louis is pulled back to reality when Harry storms into the kitchen, where Louis is making yet another cup of tea, shouting to someone on the phone. Harry has been on and off the phone all morning, screaming at one person for information, seducing another to get what he wants, but mostly threatening everyone.

Louis is drawn to the power Harry clearly has over others, and Louis really wants to be the one who could render Harry powerless, wants to completely wreck this put-together, professional man until the only word he is capable of saying is “Louis.”

Louis was the only person in the kitchen; Zayn was in the office talking (or flirting if you asked Louis) with Liam, and Niall had run out to get them all sandwiches for lunch. It had already been a long day, yet the day was still technically young. They needed some food to recharge, and Louis was not ashamed to admit that he was completely incompetent in the kitchen.

Louis taps his fingers on the marble countertop of the kitchen island, pretending to watch his water boil while, really, his full attention is directed towards Harry. Several of Harry’s curls have fallen from his bun, and somehow it seems as if a couple more of his shirt buttons have come undone since he first arrived.

Louis wants to stare at every inch of Harry’s soft, pale, delicate skin. He wants to run his tongue over that beautiful expanse of skin, tracing all of Harry’s tattoos with his mouth. Mostly, he wants to get his mouth in those sinfully tight pants, wants to mark up Harry’s thighs with kisses and bites. Honestly, six hours in, and he’s decided that he would be more than content to spend the rest of his life with his head in between Harry’s legs.

Louis startles slightly as the kettle whistles, and Harry glares at him, pressing one hand over the ear that isn’t on the phone to block out this unwanted background noise. Louis can’t help but notice the way Harry’s eyes follow his every moment as he bends down to get the tea out of a bottom cupboard, making sure to stick out his ass to taunt Harry.

Returning to an upright position, Louis casually glances at Harry and definitely sees the way Harry gulps, his eyes trained directly on Louis’ hips. Louis smirks at this, cocking one hip out and putting his hand there.

Harry seems to notice he’s staring at Louis and blushes deeply, spinning around and shouting something into the phone. Louis chuckles, but he can’t deny how affected he is, simply knowing that his body can have such an effect on Harry. It’s very interesting, and Louis can’t wait to test the limits of teasing that he can subject Harry to.

Louis takes his mug, leaning against the countertop, dipping his teabag in and out of the water as seductively as he can. He’s really channeling some inner teabagging skills, and he pretends not to notice when Harry hangs up the phone and slouches into one of the chairs at the island.

Louis walks over to stand directly across from Harry, leaning forward on the counter. He glances up to ensure that Harry is watching him and brings his mug up to his face, pursing his lips and blowing on the beverage. He may have imagined it, but he swears he hears Harry’s breath catch in his throat.

When he looks up at Harry again, though, his head is in his hands, totally ignoring Louis. Louis feels slightly bad for causing this beautiful angel such stress, but also he can’t deny how sexy he finds Harry’s work ethic. Wishing to alleviate some of the tension in the air, Louis decides to be the first to speak.

“Who was that poor soul you were yelling at?”

Harry looks up at Louis, making eye contact, and seeming surprised at the question. Harry quickly composes himself and goes back into professional “fixer” mode.

“The Sun. They’re all assholes who should rot in hell... but I think we may have reached an agreement.”

Louis is slightly shocked at the language coming out of those cherubic lips, but he smirks when he thinks about the other naughty things he would enjoy those lips doing.

Not even bothering to look into Harry’s eyes rather his lips, Louis asks, “Oh? And what was that agreement?”

Harry sighs slightly, running his hand through his hair and scratching the top of his head. “Generally these trashy tabloids don’t really care about getting ‘the story’ you know? They aren’t there for investigative journalism or anything. They want to make money. And while releasing those photos would get them lots of attention and publicity, at the end of the day they just want money. So they’ve agreed to give us all of the photos in return for $5 million.”

Louis almost chokes on his tea, coughing and hacking until he can properly breathe again. “You’ve got to be fucking with me.”

Harry just nods, amusement twinkling in his eyes. Clearly he is enjoying seeing Louis flustered for once, and that just makes Louis even more irritated. He’d love to wipe that smirk off Harry’s mouth, show Harry who’s really in charge here. Despite his overwhelming attraction to Harry, he doesn’t even get distracted with these thoughts. He’s completely stuck up on the $5 million.

Louis has half a mind to tell the tabloids to fuck off and just print the fucking pictures. Fuck this homophobic world they live in. He doesn’t even want to work for a country that won’t accept him.

Except, he kind of does. He has worked so hard to reach this moment. His family had always struggled to make ends meet as a child, and he had worked so hard, earning both academic and football scholarships to the best universities in England.

He had literally built himself from the bottom to where he is now; in his beautiful mansion, running for the Vice President of the United States. That little boy growing up in Donny would never have thought this possible, but thanks to all of his hardwork and endless sacrifices, he had achieved more than ever seemed possible.

So fuck. Louis really can’t afford to have these pictures released. Otherwise the first 35 years of his life will be for naught.

Just as Louis’ about to really begin wallowing in his self-pity, Niall barges in, arms full with bags of food. He hands a sub to Louis and then pulls out a salad for Harry.

Louis rolls his eyes; he should have known that Harry would be one of those health freaks. He’s probably a fucking vegetarian, too.

Finally, Niall removes a milkshake from the cup holder in his hand and gives it to Louis. Then he heads towards the home office to deliver the rest of the food to Zayn and Liam.

Louis’ lost in thought as he unwraps his sandwich and begins mindlessly chewing. He technically has $5 million; he and his wife, Jade, had built quite a nice savings for themselves working as top corporate lawyers in New York City. Louis had a reputation for winning giant cases for very important, very wealthy and high-profile clients and had been compensated appropriately.

Since moving to DC to serve as New York senator a year after Jade had been appointed as a Supreme Court justice, despite living in a lavish mansion, they actually saved money on living costs since Manhattan was so pricey. And Louis had made several good investments, so it was safe to say that he and Jade were very well off.

It didn’t especially fit his menacing lawyer profile, but Louis was mostly upset about having to pay $5 million to some ratty magazine, not because he wanted the money for himself, but because he annually donated a large sum of money to several different children’s charities.

He’s fuming at the thought that sleazy paparazzi, who make a living off of exploiting people’s privacy, will be sitting pretty off of money Louis had specifically allocated for donations. Biting aggressively into his sandwich, Louis tries to calm himself, reasoning where he can cut personal expenses so that the $5 million come from his personal account, not from Jade’s and definitely not from the account for charities.

The problem is that the public saw Louis out in designer suits, living in a large house, showering his wife with presents, treating strangers to food and drink on the daily, and overall having this conception that Louis lives lavishly, enjoying his wealthy. Little do they know that he’s much happier to lounge around his house in $20 sweats, eating cheap take-out. He still hasn’t broken the habit from growing up of cutting coupons, and he loves the thrill of finding an especially great deal.

Of course he keeps a nice load of money in his back pocket, but he rarely spends it except on others. He barely spends any of his money on himself, most of his salary going to his family or into a savings account to ensure his family’s future success. Almost all of his earnings go towards various charities, or to his loved ones. While Louis doesn’t particularly care for expensive material goods, he absolutely loves showering his family with presents.

So while he can afford the ransom, he’s pissed off that the money might mean he can’t give his mum that bracelet she had been gushing over for ages, or that he might have to put off buying his sister, Lottie, that new house in London a little bit.

Sighing, Louis resigns himself to the fact that he fucked this up, so he will take the consequences dished out. He’s not going to let this hurt anyone other than him. He’s angry-- he really wants to beat up everyone involved in the stupid gossip industry-- but at this point, it seems like he’ll come out of this alive, if not a bit bruised.

Resigning himself to his fate, Louis says quietly, “I’ll pay the money.”

Harry’s head snaps up at this, and Louis hurries on in the sternest voice he can muster, “You better ensure that they aren’t secretly holding onto any copies and that no one else has any knowledge that these ever existed.”

Harry nods his head, but rolls his eyes slightly. “This isn’t my first time doing this,” he mutters under his breath, returning back to his salad.

Louis is thrown off as he watches Harry take a bite of his food. He does this strange thing where he opens his mouth wide and sticks out his tongue first. Louis feels like he should be weirded out by this, but he finds this to be maybe the cutest thing he’s ever seen. Who eats like this?

Louis decides that Harry can’t be real. He has too many sides to him. On one hand he’s literal sex on a stick and on the other, he’s a giant dork who doesn’t even eat food properly.

Louis can’t help the smile that engulfs his face as he watches Harry take another bite. Honestly, at this point he is feeling kind of alright. Obviously he’s kicking himself for being so stupid, but things are working out. He’s come to terms with forking over the money, Harry seems to think that this will be over by the end of the day, and Louis has literally been graced by an angel all in the last few hours.

Harry looks up and catches Louis looking at him with that dopey, fond expression, and Louis hurriedly looks away. He decides that he could use a little fun since everything has been so uptight all day. So he prepares himself for next time Harry looks at him.

It doesn’t take long before Louis feels the heat of Harry’s gaze upon him. Feigning innocence, Louis brings his milkshake to his lips, over exaggerating the way he takes the straw into his mouth, curling his lips around it and hollowing out his cheeks while taking a sip.

He glances up at Harry, looking coquettishly through his long lashes, and he’s entirely too pleased with himself at the way he watches color creep into Harry’s cheeks, a deep blush staining his pretty face.

Louis pulls off the milkshake with a loud “pop” and makes a show of licking some extra chocolate off of his lips. At the end, he makes sure to stick his tongue in his cheek, the classic gesture for a blowjob.

Harry looks Louis squarely in the eyes, and Louis would almost think that Harry wasn’t affected at all, if not for the deep blush on his cheeks and the slight shake in his hands.

“Mr. Tomlinson,” he starts, and despite the way Louis’ dick twinges at those words and Louis’ thoughts of Harry calling him “sir” while he fucks him, Louis manages to cut in and say, “Please. Louis.”

Not looking amused by Louis’ haughty tone or interruption, Harry spits out, “Excuse me. _Louis_. Do you really think it’s appropriate in this situation for you to be acting that way?”

“And what way exactly am I acting, Mr. Styles?” Louis asks lightly but making sure to emphasize his last words.

Harry scoffs at this. “Harry,” he grumbles out.

“Right, so Harold, in what way am I acting inappropriately? I’m just enjoying my milkshake.”

Harry groans and throws his hands up in exasperation.

“You’re running to be the Vice President, for fuck’s sake. Is this all just a joke to you? You could have ruined your entire career, if not for me. Fuck, I didn’t realize that America didn’t house train their fucking politicians. Do I have to do everything myself?” Harry adds, more to himself than anything.

Louis is proud of himself for eliciting such a heated reaction from Harry, and he maintains his composure. Rather than giving it right back to Harry, Louis merely leans in and whispers directly into Harry’s ear, lips lightly grazing his earlobe, “Love, there are so many things I would do to you. You’d never have to do it yourself if you were with me.”

And with that, he turns on his heel and walks out. Louis Tomlinson always gets the last word. _Always_.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zayn has ordered Louis to house arrest until they safely have the photos in their hands, and Harry’s still negotiating with people on several ends, so it seems like it might be awhile. It’s 3:00 pm now, and Louis sighs heavily when he realizes that he’s almost been awake for 12 hours.

At least at this point he’s no longer hungover, but he’s just done with this whole situation. He wants all these people out of his house. He just wants to drink a beer and watch random football games all afternoon.

Hell, he can do that with people here. Right now it kind of seems like Harry’s the only one doing work, anyway. Niall’s lounging on the office’s couch, swiping on Tinder, though he quickly switches over to a business app when anyone walks near him. Zayn and Liam are sitting in the same armchair, whispering into each other’s ears, completely engulfed in their own little world.

Louis wants to roll his eyes at them for being so grossly flirting after just meeting, but really, he’s been wanting Zayn to find a nice boy for ages now and he’s glad that Zayn has hit it off so well with Liam. He’ll give Zayn shit for it later. He knows Zayn will tear him a new one if he teases him while Zayn’s “working,” though Louis has half a mind to ask Zayn what he’s paying him for if he’s just going to sit around like a lovesick teen all day.

Louis would never admit it, but he frequently found himself feeling jealous of Zayn, which always makes him feel ashamed. He has an amazing life. He’s proud of himself, and he’s also proud of everything Zayn’s achieved for himself.

But sometimes certain things will leave him feeling bitter about the fact that Zayn can live freely, letting the world know that he likes men. And for some fucked up reason, this just adds to Louis’ likeability. The fact that he has a gay advisor gains him voters, but if he himself were to come out as gay, he’d lose this election. It’s fucked up.

Louis goes into the kitchen, grabs a six pack of beer and pokes his head back into the office. “Gonna watch the game with some beer. Anyone care to join me?” he asks, not missing the glare Harry throws at him.

Niall jumps up enthusiastically, but Zayn says that he and Liam have more work to attend to, so they can’t. Louis can’t prevent a scoff from escaping his mouth at this, but he winks at Zayn to let him know that it’s all good. Harry doesn’t bother responding, turning his back to Louis and typing furiously onto his phone.

Louis shrugs and leads Niall to the big TV room. Niall is practically jumping off the walls, he’s so excited about the game, the giant TV, the mid-afternoon beer, life in general. Louis finds him very sweet, and he can’t help smiling when he’s around him. While they watch the game and sip their beers, Louis asks Niall some questions about “Harry Styles and Associates” as he learns their business is called.

Louis learns that Harry built the company, starting with nothing and soon garnering a giant clientele of some of England’s most elite. Harry had studied communications at school, but he discovered that he was very good at networking with people and solving tricky problems. His natural charm allowed him to get into some of the most prestigious events despite being a nobody freshly out of uni. He quickly worked his way up the social ladder until he was tight with several members of Parliament, not to mention the royal family themselves.

Niall explains that he and Harry were childhood best friends, and Harry always made sure that in his own success there was room for Niall no matter what. From a young age, Niall had been into technology, and he graduated uni with a computer science degree at age 19. Regular programming became too easy for him quickly, so he started dabbling in hacking.

Now he’s Harry’s main hacker, although his official job title has something to do with Cyber Security or some fancy thing Louis definitely did not understand.

Louis wants to find it odd that Niall has no hesitation telling Louis that he literally does illegal activities as his main job for Harry Styles and Associates, but really he appreciates Niall’s instant trust in him and isn’t going to do anything. He has taken an instant liking to the Irish lad, and he feels that Niall also seems to genuinely like him. Plus, Louis thinks it’s pretty cool that he’s just casually watching footie with a real life hacker.

Then Niall explains that Liam was a top political science grad student in London when he caught Harry’s attention. Harry immediately hired him after deciding that he liked Liam’s warm smile when they first met, before even hearing about any of Liam's qualifications. Louis was shocked at this, but Niall just shrugged and said that’s pretty much how Harry is.

Now Liam is sort of a jack of all trades. He is Harry’s close right-hand man and has proven to be skilled at handling any sort of tense situation.

Niall’s about to start some story about one time when Liam did something “so fucking cool, mate, you'll never believe it” but Harry comes barging into the room. Louis feels like the temperature in the room goes up several degrees with Harry’s arrival, but he wills his heart to slow and his dick to remain calm. Putting on his aura of cockiness, Louis is about to tease Harry about his graceless running into the room, but Harry starts talking first.

Despite his obvious urgency, Harry still speaks in a very slow manner. “Louis. It’s 3 in the afternoon. Where is your ‘wife’?” He actually has the audacity to use air quotes around the word “wife,” and behind his mask of frustration, Louis can see that he’s clearly quite proud of himself for attacking Louis.

Louis would make a snarky comment back, but his heart is pounding too loudly in his ears for him to focus. Swallowing quickly and glancing from Niall’s confused expression to Harry’s triumphant one, Louis hesitates only a moment before saying, “She’s visiting a cousin over in Bethesda. They recently had a baby, and she stayed the night to help with the babe.”

Harry’s eyes narrow, and he seems like he wants to say something else, but Louis adds, “Why? You hoping I was single and available for you?”

Harry’s face twists angrily, and he practically spits out, “Maybe it’s not apparent to you, but you got caught cheating on your wife with a man. Shouldn’t you be more concerned about her reaction?”

Hmm, Louis honestly hadn’t thought about Jade since this whole debacle took off, but he figures that Harry has a point. He probably can’t keep this from her, and if not just to get Harry to get his panties out of a bunch, Louis figures that he’ll have to tell her soon. On that same note, Louis wonders what Harry would look like spread out on bed for him, in nothing but a lacy pair of panties.

Shaking his head to clear it of such dirty thoughts, Louis makes a show of sighing loudly so that Harry knows that he’s not pleased with him at all, but he’ll do what he says. Leaning his head back against the back of the couch, Louis calls, “Zaynnnnnnnnnnnn!”

Zayn huffs into the room, clearly annoyed with being summoned and forced to tear himself from Liam’s side.

“Zayn, love, can you call my beautiful wife and please tell her I need her home immediately?” Louis flashes Zayn one of his dazzling smiles that a magazine had recently called “earth-shattering while simultaneously heartbreaking.”

Zayn rolls his eyes, immune to Louis’ charm, and pulls his phone out of his pocket. Louis’ well aware that he’s more than capable of calling Jade himself, but he’s got a game to watch.

Out of his peripherals, Louis notices Niall staring with his jaw agape. Eventually he nudges Louis. “How’re ya so calm about your wife finding out, mate?” he asks.

Louis takes a sip of his beer before answering, formulating an appropriate response. “We’ve both worked incredibly hard to build this life for ourselves. Jade is insanely smart. She knows that it wouldn’t be the right move for her career to leave me.”

Still not looking away from the TV, he can see Niall shaking his head. “Mighty confident, you are,” he mutters, before he, too, sinks back into the cushy couch to watch the game. The two of them don’t talk any longer, save for a few whoops or boos when something particularly intense happens on the TV.

Almost an hour later, Louis hears the garage opening, and he can’t help rolling his eyes slightly, thinking that Jade sure took her sweet time getting here despite his clear instructions to get home immediately. Groaning loudly, Louis squeezes his eyes shut tightly and figures that he better get off the couch. This probably isn’t a conversation they want to have while his attention is directed towards the football game.

He shuts off the TV, and he and Niall silently walk back towards the home office. Louis makes sure to down the rest of his beer before she gets there too. He can hear Zayn talking to Jade, and their voices get louder as they approach. As they enter the office, Jade freezes slightly, taking in the scene before her.

Louis’ lounging in his big office chair, feet propped up on his desk, arms behind his head, exuding confidence. Harry is standing near the bookcase with his arms crossed, not looking amused at all. Liam and Niall are both sitting on the couch, looking very uncomfortable at the situation.

Composing herself, Jade blinks a few times and plasters on a wide, fake smile, turning towards Louis.

“What’s going on, darling?” she says in a very robotic tone through her gritted teeth. Louis sits upright in the chair, and gestures towards the three men.

“This is Harry Styles and his associates, Liam and Niall. They’re fixers.” He says it so nonchalantly, as if he hadn’t been unaware of what a fixer is when he went to bed last night.

Jade keeps her smile plastered on as she walks towards all of them, offering them her hand to shake. Harry can tell that she is objectively a beautiful woman, despite her sweatpants, hoodie, and make-up free face. She turns back to Louis, and her smile is looking more like a grimace now.

Through her gritted teeth she says slowly as if talking to a child, “And, darling, why do you need a fixer?”

“Well, um,” Louis’ haughty exterior cracking as he struggles to find the right words. Finally he sighs and looks up at Jade, blue eyes wide, and Harry has to hold back as a gasp at how young and innocent Louis suddenly looks.

Harry’s been so angry with the persona of a self-righteous politician he’s been dealing with all day, but now he sees a real man in front of him. A real, honest man scared about his future. And Harry's heart melts because he doesn’t ever want to see Louis looking so fragile ever again.

Finding his voice again, Louis looks down at his clasped hands, twiddling his thumbs. “Um, well, The Sun, um, may have gotten, um, pictures of me…. With a man last night.”

All eyes except for Louis’ turn to look at Jade, waiting for her reaction. She gasps slightly and stares at Louis for a beat before she launches into action. Suddenly she runs around the desk, grasping Louis’ shoulders and shaking him. He doesn’t look particularly shocked, just disappointed and guilty.

Liam and Niall both jump up to prevent any further physical altercation, but Zayn puts his hand out, assuring them that it’s fine. Just as suddenly as she had launched into her attack, Jade stops and sinks down onto the floor. Louis slides out of his chair so that he’s on level with her.

Harry is shocked to see the way he so gently strokes her hair. He can’t tell if she’s crying since her head is in her hands, but he can hear Louis murmuring caring words of reassurance to her.

Finally she looks up, and Louis cups her cheek with his hand. Harry sees that she’s not actually crying; she’s angry, and maybe a bit frightened? Harry is unsure.

She lightly shoves Louis back and seethes, “How could you be so stupid? Pictures?!?! They have pictures?!?! Fucking fuck, Louis.”

Louis clasps his hands in his lap again, looking like a child being scolded and just whispers out, “I’m so sorry, Jade.”

She sighs loudly and reaches over, taking his hands and grasping them in both of hers. They’re both staring at their intertwined hands, neither looking directly at the other, and she whispers, “Lou.”

For some reason Harry feels a jolt of jealousy in his stomach as he hears Jade address Louis so intimately with that little nickname.

“You’re a fucking idiot, Lou. I swear to God.” She finishes, and Louis just nods his head vigorously.

“I’m so so sorry, Jade.”

Jade drops their hands and pulls her hair back into a ponytail. Looking up and seemingly realizing that there are four men awkwardly watching this scene unfold, she pushes herself to her feet and directs her words at Harry. “So you’re the fixer? I assume you’ve got this handled then, right?”

Harry looks at how tiny and wrecked Louis looks, still on the floor, and it takes him a moment to find his words.

He looks Jade directly in the eyes and informs her of the strides they’ve made today and how everything should be settled very soon. She nods as he tells her that the tabloid has agreed to give up all proof of the event for a fee. She only gasps slightly when Harry informs her of said fee, but she continues listening and nodding.

When Harry’s done talking, she looks to Louis on the floor, Zayn still standing in the doorway, and back to Harry.

“So it’s fixed,” she states simply.

“Yes, ma’am,” Harry replies. He sees her visibly relax, and she lets out a deep breath which Harry can only imagine she’s been holding in this whole time.

Nodding, she turns around, picking up her purse from where she had dropped it on the floor. “Okay, okay. Good. It’s all fine.” Harry isn’t sure if she’s talking to them or just trying to reassure herself.

She walks over to Louis, extending a hand to help him stand up. He takes it but still refuses to make eye contact with him.

“Boobear, look at me,” she says.

Harry can’t help the way his hands form tight fists or the way he bites down on his lower lip, anger uncurling in his gut at this cute, pet name. He knows it’s irrational, and extremely unprofessional, but he wants to be the one calling Louis affectionate, intimate pet names, not Louis’ wife. He’s gay! Why does she get to have Louis when Harry can’t?

Louis finally looks up to meet Jade’s eye contact, and she says very calmly, “Don’t you ever fuck with my career again, I swear. Don’t throw away the years we have spent building this life for ourselves.”

Louis just nods, clearly all the fight having been sapped from him. Then Jade turns on her heel and literally struts out of the room. All five men stand silently, unsure of what to do now. Finally Louis collapses back into his big office chair and shouts, “FUCK.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Louis paces around the kitchen while Jade sits at the kitchen counter, tapping her fingers against the marble anxiously. Zayn’s sitting next to her in stark contrast, absolutely silent and frozen.

Louis watches as the digital clock on the oven changes from 10:59 to 11:00. Harry was supposed to be meeting with the assholes at The Sun at 11:00 in order to complete “the exchange” as Louis has been calling it in his head. He thought it sounded kind of fun and action movie-esque that way. It at least helps take some of the edge off the crippling anxiety he is feeling right now.

He knows Harry is the best in the business, and Zayn has reassured him several times that nothing will go wrong, but he still can't help it. This is huge and could change the course of his life forever.

Plus, Jade sitting anxiously right there is really wiring him up as well. In any other situation, if he were this stressed out, he’d either drown his anxieties in Scotch or dick. But right now, as Harry has reminded him several times throughout the day, he’s not allowed to drink anything hard or hook up with anything… hard.

Louis feels that his heart might explode at any second with the anticipation. Finally, at 11:07, Zayn’s phone rings and all three pairs of eyes hone in on the little device. Zayn snatches it up, answering it with a swift, “Well?” He listens intently for a few moments, nodding every now and then, hanging up with a “yes, of course. Thank you.”

Neither Jade nor Louis breathes as they wait for Zayn to relay the conversation to them. Zayn looks solemnly at them, and Louis feels like he might scream or cry or both at any moment. But then Zayn’s face cracks into a smile and he says, “It’s done. He’s got the photos. He’s on the way here to drop them off and then this will all be over.” Louis doesn’t realize that he forgot how to breathe until he takes a giant gulp, finally feeling the tension of the entire day relax around him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry is driving with his windows down, the breeze whipping his hair around as he speeds through the city towards the Tomlinson house. He and Niall had seen to it that no copies of the picture existed anywhere in the cloud or on any other hidden drives, and he was about to finish this god forsaken job and get away from Louis forever.

He was feeling way too many emotions every time he looked at Louis. He was so conflicted in wanting to never see that pompous prick again, yet he also couldn’t help wanting to see Louis with his walls down, wanting to see Louis for the actual kind human behind the hard exterior.

He shakes the thought out of his head before he can get too lost in fantasies of waking up next to a soft, sleepy Louis, of being the one to bring him tea in the morning, of being rewarded with that cute crinkly-eyed smile. The man is married, for god’s sake. There is absolutely no future there.

Besides, Harry lives in London, and Louis lives in DC. It’s cute and fun to daydream about living happily ever after, but if he thinks too much about it, he starts feeling a tinge of sadness at not being able to get to know Louis better.

As he pulls onto Louis’ street, he audibly exhales, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel with a bit of nervous energy. He parks his car at the top of Louis’ inordinately long driveway and climbs out of his car, tossing the flash drive up and down gently as he meanders over to the front door. Harry’s whistling and not paying much attention to the dark front yard when a sudden shift in the bushes catches his attention.

He slows down and stops his whistling, suddenly attuned to his surroundings. As he listens intently, he distinctly hears footsteps, crunching their way through the garden at the side of the house. Harry changes his course of direction and begins stalking over to where he heard the person. Someone is sneaking around Louis’ house, and Harry wouldn’t be the best in the business if he didn’t follow his gut and investigate weird occurrences involving his clients.

Suddenly, Harry sees a flash of color as someone scurries closer to the garage door. Feeling like this is his best opportunity to strike, he lunges out and grabs hold of this person, spinning them around to look at them properly.

He’s only slightly surprised to find that he’s gripping the arm of a pretty blonde girl, whose face is a mix of wide, startled eyes and worried, trembling lips. Harry then realizes that this girl is dressed in a trench coat and a lavender slip. That’s all. Harry quickly looks back up to her face when he realizes this, feeling his cheeks flush. He thinks about stammering out an apology but then remembers that he’s here on business.

“Who are you? What are you doing creeping around Louis Tomlinson’s house?” He hisses out at her, voice low and dangerous.

She opens and closes her mouth a few times, apparently still not over the shock of being caught. Harry sighs, feeling anger boiling inside him. This is fucking perfect. He’s supposed to be done with Louis Tomlinson and his bullshit playboy schenanigans, but now there’s a girl trying to get into his house, only wearing lingerie.

Since this girl is apparently not going to be of much help currently, Harry storms over to the front door, dragging the girl behind him. He rings the doorbell twice before banging on the door aggressively. He’s got the girl standing behind him, and she’s just sitting standing there hopelessly, not making any effort to get away. Harry doesn’t stop banging until the door swings open, Louis standing there with a smirk on his smug, beautiful artwork of a face.

“Someone was a little impatient to see me again, hmm baby?” He purrs out, clearly thinking he’s going to get under Harry’s skin.

Without saying a word, Harry steps out of the doorway and pulls the blonde girl forward into the light. Harry watches with curiosity as he sees Louis’ face flash between confusion, recognition, and then settling on anxiety.

“You better have some explanations, Tomlinson, because things are not looking good for you right now,” Harry hisses out.

Just as he’s getting ready to launch into a whole speech about Louis being irresponsible and lying to Harry, making Harry’s job basically impossible to do, Jade’s voice echoes through the front hall. “Lou? Is that Harry?”

She freezes, eyes wide, as she rounds the corner and sees the scene unfolding before her. There’s a moment when time seems to stand still as no one moves or even breathes.

The spell is broken when the blonde girl suddenly rushes forward, running right into Jade’s arms and clinging tightly. Jade slowly moves to wrap her arms around the girl, petting her hair. She glances worriedly at Louis, who takes a giant deep breath and runs both hands over his face and through his hair.

Sighing deeply, Louis slowly turns to look at Harry. “We haven’t been totally honest with you,” Louis says.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick chapter where Louis, Jade, and Zayn come clean about things to Harry, Niall, and Liam. 
> 
> This is definitely going to be the shortest chapter. Sorry that it's inconsistent.

Twenty four hours ago Harry barely would have recognized the name “Louis Tomlinson.” Now here he is, sitting in his personal living room, waiting for this man to basically tell Harry all of his deepest, darkest secrets. Everyone is gathered in this room; they're just waiting for Niall and Liam to arrive.

Harry’s two coworkers had been waiting at a pub to celebrate a job well done, but Harry had alerted them that there were some complications and he needed them at Louis’ house ASAP.

Zayn had made them all cups of tea, and Louis is sitting on the couch, fiddling nervously with his Yorkshire tea bag, unwilling to look at anyone else in the room. Jade is sitting next to him on the couch, her leg shaking unconsciously as she sips on her chamomile. Harry’s perched on the edge of the coffee table directly across from them.

And Zayn is leaning against the wall, observing this uncomfortable situation from afar. Harry still doesn’t know the blonde girl’s name, but she’s somewhere else in the house apparently.

Harry hasn’t felt this confused and out of his element in a long time. Right now he is definitely focused on the job at hand, but he can’t help feeling that there’s something about Louis that always has him feeling like he’s in a new situation, always feeling slightly on edge. And, honestly, Harry loves it. Louis’ an adventure. He keeps Harry’s heart beating quickly, excitement and anticipation always thrumming through his veins.

Just then, the front doorbell rings despite it being past midnight. Harry had assured Liam, the most polite man in the entire world, that he could just walk into the house when they arrived, but of course he still had to ring the doorbell.

Zayn pushes off the wall in a millisecond, going to get the door. Harry can tell that both Louis and Jade have tensed up more after the doorbell, probably feeling that the moment has finally come for them to come clean.

Niall heads into the room, Zayn and Liam following a bit after him. Liam holds the door open for Zayn, and Zayn ducks his head, smiling softly at this kind act of courtesy. Once they’re all in the room, no one really knows where to start.

Harry knows that everyone is waiting for him to make the first move, and he takes a deep breath before pushing to his feet. He wants to control the room, and towering above everyone helps him feel that he is really holding the power in the room.

“Okay. How about we start with the truth? Would that be so hard for you, _Mr. Tomlinson_?” He slips back into the formal addressing, and he tells himself it's not just because he wants to see the way it makes Louis squirm. “So tell me. Are you just sleeping with every man and woman you encounter? Can’t you keep it in your pants for five goddamn minutes?”

He’s ranting and going on and on, about how he can’t do his job properly when his client isn’t honest with him. About how Louis has not only royally fucked things for himself, but for Jade and Zayn, too, whose careers will be impacted by Louis’ downfall. About how Louis is so selfish and entitled that he can’t wait for one sex scandal to be over before he starts another one. About how Louis is worse than the scumbag politicians Harry’s used to working for because he doesn’t think about how his actions have giant consequences.

Finally, he stops pacing and shouting, his chest rising up and down due to the intensity of his speech. He’s surprised to realize that Louis hadn’t said anything the entire time Harry was talking, and Harry’s almost upset that Louis doesn’t respond with a snarky comment or flirty retaliation.

Louis finally looks up from staring intently at his hands clasped around the mug in his lap, meeting Harry’s eyes for the first time all night. Harry tries not to shudder under the intensity of Louis’ gaze, but this is a new kind of intensity from what he’s seen in Louis’ eyes before. This is intense vulnerability, and Harry decides he wants to swim inside those blue orbs and stay there forever.

“Are you quite finished?” Louis asks in a hopeless tone. Harry just nods dumbly, unsure about what he might say if he opens his mouth. Exhaling loudly, Louis begins, “For your information, _Mr. Styles_ , I actually do not sleep with every man and woman-- okay, not with every woman I encounter. I haven’t slept with a woman since high school, and that really should barely count.” Louis takes a pause, letting Niall, Liam, and Harry digest that information.

“So….” Niall starts questioningly. Louis huffs out a laugh, and says, “Yeah, Niall, I’m gay. Like super gay. I sleep with men all the time, I'd love to find a man to fall completely in love with, and if you want the real zinger, I've never slept with my wife.”

Niall stares at Louis like he’s an alien, mouth hanging open slightly, obviously shocked by this turn of events. Liam, being the polite gentleman he is, tries to hide his shock, nodding his head slightly, pretending to understand.

Harry, though, swears his world turns upside down. Obviously he knew that Louis liked boys; the whole reason they had met was because Louis liked boys a little too much for his own good. But he had never imagined that he might actually have a shot with Louis.

Harry figured that it was just one singular discretion, a fluke where Louis drunkenly gave into his homosexual tendencies. He figured that if Louis was even interested in hooking up with boys casually, Harry wouldn’t go there since it definitely could never turn into a real relationship. Louis is married, so he can’t seriously commit to anything, and Harry is not looking for just a casual hook up currently.

Now, though, his heart is somehow both beating a zillion times per minute while it has simultaneously stopped beating completely. He reminds himself that he’s going back to England soon, and Louis’ going to be Vice President of the United States. There’s no way that anything could ever come from any kind of relationship he has with Louis.

But still. Harry can’t help if he’s a little excited upon learning that the world’s most beautiful man and the new protagonist of all of Harry’s wet dreams is self-proclaimed “super gay.”

Noticing that Liam is looking at him as if for instruction on what to do next, Harry shakes these thoughts out of his head, putting them in a folder for later when he has more time, more privacy, and more lube.

“Okay. So how do you explain the naked woman I found outside your house?” Harry asks, trying to maintain his control on the situation.

Jade speaks up for the first time, barely above a whisper, “She’s my girlfriend, Perrie.”

All eyes turn to hers except for Louis who just kind of nods, maintaining his solid eye contact with the floor. Jade half smiles, half grimaces when she says, “Um. I’m gay too.”

Harry is genuinely concerned that Niall might have dislocated his jaw from the intensity of it dropping at this turn of events. Even Liam, Mr. Polite, can’t help staring at Jade. Harry glances over to Zayn at his position against the hall. Zayn catches him looking and shrugs slightly at Harry, mouthing a “sorry.”

Harry runs his hands through his curls, collecting his thoughts. “Okay,” he drawls out. “Okay.” He apparently has forgotten every other word he knows. Harry has seen a lot of things in his time and has found a solution to almost all of them.

But this time, he has to say that he was not expecting this at all. The future Vice President and his wife are both gay and both having sexual relations outside of their marriage. Sure, that’s a minor thing. No worries. Harry can handle this.

Jade looks to Louis, and he must take this to mean that he needs to take charge of the story. So, still directed to the floor, Louis begins telling them where it all started:

He and Jade met first year of university and instantly became best friends, a lot of which was due to both of them struggling to come out and be honest about who they are. On top of that, they both were extremely ambitious and wanted to go to law school in order to make the world a better place.

So naturally they both applied to the top law schools in England, both getting in to Oxford, where they immediately shot to the top of their classes. They were at the peak of their lives, doing great academically and also both finally becoming not only comfortable in their own skin but actually being proud of their sexualities.

It was also in undergrad where Louis and Zayn met, Zayn majoring in communications and management. He was equally ambitious, and the two got on extremely well from the very beginning.

Their final year of law school, they were planning on moving to New York as roommates, having both gotten great job offers at prominent law firms. Corporate law was definitely not the end goal for either of them (both wanting to use their power to help others who felt marginalized and scared in their own skin, like they had been growing up), but they needed to get their foot in the door before they could follow their real dreams.

It was also at this time when Louis’ mentor had called him into her office one day, saying that she needed to speak to Louis about something very important. She gently, not that it really made it hurt any less, advised him that in order to be a leading force in the cutthroat industries of either law or politics, he might want to consider being a bit less, uh, “outspoken about his sexuality.”

She said it all came from a place of concern, caring, and wanting to help him succeed in every way possible because he was her best student she’d ever had, but that didn’t stop her words from hurting.

Unfortunately, Louis recognized that she actually presented a point worthy of further consideration. He’d grown quite accustomed to heteronormativity and had multiple times been in situations where he had lost an internship or job opportunity to a more traditionally “manly” candidate. Although he thought she was probably right, and because he wanted her to be wrong, Louis immediately went to confide in his best friends, Jade and Zayn, and seek out their advice.

It was actually Jade’s idea, and it seemed like the obvious solution to her. They both wanted so much from their lives, and they were both going to be faced with constant homophobia impeding their ability to reach their full potentials.

And, so, right after graduation from law school, Louis and Jade not only told their families that they were together, but they were getting married. They had a quick wedding at town hall and almost immediately moved to New York City.

Since they had been best friends for years, it was actually very easy. They got along great and were great roommates to each other. They were both ridiculously smart and talented lawyers, and although they didn’t especially want to admit it, being “married” to another top New York lawyer helped their separate careers.

They were great spouses, really. They had quite the agreement; while Jade had been steadily dating a girl, Perrie, since her last year of law school, Louis was quite content to just sleep around with any handsome boys he encountered, discreetly of course.

And after having sat Perrie down and had a long conversation with her about how this was all for the betterment of their future careers, Perrie actually agreed to this ridiculous scheme. She, too, left England and moved with them first to New York City and then to DC. She was an elementary school teacher and had been fortunate enough to find work with good public schools in both locations.

Louis’ whole “boy next door who goes out and meets new people at social events” was really just a guise because Zayn couldn’t stop Louis from going out and sleeping with boys. Until recently, Louis’ hadn’t been a name that was worth remembering for the random men he slept with at bars.

Jade and Louis had a perfectly content relationship going on. Louis slept around while Jade had her longterm girlfriend. Last night when Louis was out picking up a random guy, Jade had stayed the night at Perrie's apartment close by, which explained why she wasn't there when Harry arrived in the early morning. While Perrie spent most nights in Louis and Jade's house, she had an apartment of her own to maintain the guise that she isn't sleeping with the Vice President's wife.

Since accepting the Vice Presidential candidacy, Louis had honestly been trying harder to keep his sexual flings to a minimum, but in the one moment of his original story that proved to be true, Louis had actually gotten quite significantly more drunk than normal and had abandoned protocol.

Still, though, this was the first time in years that he had been caught in the midst of the deed, so Louis maybe had gotten a little comfortable in his position as a closeted gay man in a “straight” marriage. And that pretty much brings them back to the current moment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There’s quite a long moment of silence while everyone, well Harry and Associates, lets the information soak in. Niall isn’t trying to hide his shock and confusion, his eyes wide as he looks from Louis to Jade to Zayn and all back over again.

Liam is rubbing his eyes, trying to work out the stress that has been building in his temple since Louis started the story.

And Harry, well, Harry is sitting absolutely frozen in his spot, trying to act cool as he works through the emotions running through his entire body right now. There is so much information he has just gleaned, both in regards to his professional and personal life, and he’s having troubles processing all of it.

He knows that he should focus on the important issues of his professional career, but he can’t help the way his heart has started fluttering or how his stomach is doing somersaults. He has just obtained potentially life-changing information in the form that Louis Tomlinson, the most beautiful and sexy man to ever walk this planet, is not only proudly gay, but also apparently extremely sexual and potentially looking for a man to love.

Harry takes several deep breaths, trying to control his emotions because he recognizes that he is the fixer here. Everyone is expecting him to come up with an answer, but honestly, he’s too baffled by the turn of events to really know what to do.

And that won’t do. He has never let anyone in his professional career seen him flustered. That’s what makes him the best.

So he quickly pushes himself back up to a standing position and begins pacing the room. This has turned from a gay cover up, to a cheating sex scandal, to possibly the most complicated relationship case Harry has been faced with. What is he going to do?

Harry, of course, is totally blown away by all of this. It was easy to deal with this one gay cover up, but now Harry is realizing that there are probably hundreds of men out there who could spill the beans about Louis (not that Harry wants to think about that, jealousy curling ugly and strong in his gut at that thought).

And on top of that, that this wasn’t just a one time thing; this is literally their lives. If elected, how were they going to have a vice president who wanted to sleep around with random men and whose wife has a long time girlfriend? There’s so much to cover up, it’s practically a full-time career, not just a one day problem.

Whoa, and that means that he doesn’t have to leave Louis’ alluring blue eyes just yet. And that, not that Harry would ever admit this to anyone, is the thing that compels the following words to escape his lips, “Niall, cancel our plane tickets back to England tomorrow. We’ll be staying a bit longer.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so much shorter than the other ones. It just felt important for the info from this chapter to be separated. 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading!! Please feel free to leave a kudos and kind comment <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! The first chapter with some smut!!!

Harry, Liam, and Niall have been working with Zayn and Louis for two weeks now. Harry made it very clear that they are not permanent employees, just here to ensure Zayn has all the knowledge and experience he needs to deal with such a time bomb of a situation on his own in the future.

Because what’s going to happen if Louis gets elected VP? There’s just going to be a live-in secret lover of the VP’s wife, who happens to be on the Supreme Court? How do they explain that to the public, let alone all the employees who are going to be tangled in this web of lies?

Harry and Louis have only seen each other in passing in that time; both busy doing their respective jobs. Louis had been touring around the country, and he’s steadily been gaining popularity, especially among the young voters.

Harry, in the meantime, has been back in DC, dealing with the very, very, very long mess of random guys Louis has hooked up with since he moved to America. And he has definitely racked up quite a long list of ex-lovers in those nine years.

Harry and his team had been in contact with Zayn almost exclusively, and although this had been better for Harry’s work ethic (not constantly being distracted by Louis’ sex appeal), Harry couldn’t deny how much he missed that bratty, difficult man. Part of extending his stay in America for over two weeks had been based on the wish that he would be spending the time working alongside Louis.

Obviously that was a silly, superfluous, unprofessional thought, but Harry’s only human.

For the first time since that initial early morning, though, Louis was not only in the same city as Harry, but Zayn had just informed them that Louis wanted to join him at work in Harry’s make-shift American office today. Harry had a sneaking suspicion that Liam is on to him about his slightly more than platonic thoughts towards Louis, yet Liam is far too polite to bring it up.

He definitely shoots Harry a knowing look, though, when Zayn arrives to work, happily baring coffee and tea for all, with the announcement that Louis will be joining them for the afternoon. Not wanting to let Liam know how flustered his look had caused Harry, Harry retaliates with his own eyebrow waggle as Liam saunters over and plops down directly in Zayn’s lap upon his arrival.

Much to everyone’s delight, Zayn and Liam had almost immediately begun exploring a relationship of their own, and they were both absolutely smitten. Harry really is incredibly happy for Liam, who he has always said deserves all the happiness in the world, but he can’t help the way that his stomach always clenches and turns slightly in jealousy every time he looks at the happy couple.

Harry always knew that he was the relationship-type, but while he had pursued various men in his past, he had recently decided to try to stop actively looking for a relationship and instead let a relationship find him. He had too much work, and frankly felt that he was too good himself, to be wasting time searching out men who never ended up caring for him in the way he hoped. That was before he had met, Louis, though, and his decision to allow fate to work its course was becoming more and more irritating.

Upon hearing that Louis would be working with them today, Harry only slightly completely starts trying to fix his appearance, fluffing his hair and possibly unbuttoning an extra notch on his shirt. A nervous energy courses through Harry’s veins, and he can’t seem to sit still all morning; every noise making him jump and look at the entranceway in case Louis’ entering.

Harry’s nervous energy makes him more irritable and less productive than usual, delegating work to Zayn, Liam, and Niall while he sits behind his desk, worrying about how much he’s worrying about seeing Louis.

They’ve steadily been locating Louis’ past hook ups and forcing them to sign NDA’s, bribing them or threatening them into silence. Harry would never admit it to anyone, but he was finding a sick sort of pleasure in using maybe a little more force than necessary when handling Louis’ exes. It’s completely absurd for Harry to feel jealous of men Louis spent one rushed, drunken night with years ago, yet Harry’s skin crawls when he thinks of Louis finding anyone else attractive enough to bang.

Niall has just left Harry’s office, having informed him that hookup #97 has been handled, and even the knowledge that one more guy won’t be trying to get another shot with Louis isn’t enough to ease the butterflies in Harry’s stomach.

Harry sighs loudly, leaning back in his chair and running his hands through his hair in stress. He decides to just send everyone to lunch so maybe he can calm down-- or go jerk off in the bathroom to thoughts of Louis tying him up and fucking him senseless-- but suddenly the door of the office flies open and in walks a literal sex god.

Harry suddenly forgets how to breathe as his eyes remain glued to the sight before him, the view of Louis Tomlinson in a fucking _suit_ that accentuates his curvy thighs, thick ass, and tiny little waist. Harry is torn between wanting to rip the clothes off Louis’ back and tracing his mouth over every inch of Louis’ perfect skin or wanting to continue staring at how fucking sexy and authoritative Louis looks in a suit, wondering what it might be like for Louis to strip Harry completely down and tower over him, fully dressed in his suit.

As Louis enters the office, he commands the complete attention of everyone in the room, and Harry practically feels the breath knocked out of him. After a couple moments of drooling over Louis in a suit, Harry snaps out of it, knowing that he’s supposed to be the one in charge here.

Thankfully Louis has been held up in the entranceway the whole time, chatting animatedly with first Niall and then both Zayn and Liam after a couple minutes. Harry watches the scene unfold, and he feels a bit of fondness swelling in his chest at the sight of his closest friends getting on jovially with the probable love of Harry’s life.

Harry slowly rises from his big office chair, wiping his hands on his trousers to ensure there isn’t any weird sweating going on before he goes out and joins them. Pushing the door open with his hip, Harry puts on an aura of pompous confidence as he joins the four other men.

“Louis, made any messes that you need me to swoop in and save you from?” Harry asks with a smirk, crossing his arms in front of his chest and jutting out a hip.

Louis very obviously gives him a full body-scan, hungrily eyeing Harry up and down as obviously as possible. Harry does his best not to squirm under Louis’ intense scrutiny, and he coughs loudly to distract as he feels arousal coursing through his body at Louis’ complete, undivided attention.

Louis cocks an eyebrow, appearing unaffected by Harry’s words or actions, and sasches over to Harry. Crossing his arms across his own chest, Louis purrs out, “Hmm baby, I would love to make a mess all over you.”

Harry’s brain completely short circuits, and he can’t seem to think of anything clever to say in response, so instead he sputters out some random syllables before turning to his employees and barking out, “Right, well, everyone, let’s take our lunch breaks now and reconvene after.”

Harry ignores the blatant looks that Zayn and Liam shoot him, waggling their eyebrows and winking extra largely to make sure that Harry knows exactly what they are teasing about. Harry turns on his heel, meaning to have a working lunch in his office, but as he goes to shut the door behind him, a foot slides into the doorway, blocking him from closing the door into the peaceful silence he had hoped for.

Sighing, Harry backs away from the door, allowing the person, who he knows is Louis, to enter his office. Sitting down behind his big desk, Harry pretends to be looking at something important and business-like, only allowing a quick glance up at Louis as he says, “What can I do for you, Mr. Tomlinson?”

Even though he’s pretending to ignore Louis, Harry can’t help the way his heart starts beating faster just from that quick look at Louis. He’s just so fucking beautiful, everything about him. His soft-looking hair, swept across his forehead, that Harry wants to tug on while Louis’ fucking into him. His slight facial hair makes him look so rugged and manly. His deliciously red lips and piercing blue eyes with such luminescence that Harry thinks he could stare at them forever and not get tired of looking.

And then there’s the way that his suit accentuates his tiny waist and hugs his round backside in such a way that Harry knows he won’t be able to stop staring at if he even begins to look so he’s keeping his eyes intentionally away from any part of Louis’ body.

“Please, I thought we discussed you calling me Louis.”

Harry still avoids eye contact, scribbling out a note on a document, hoping that it looks more professional than what he’s actually writing, which is “stay cool, Styles” over and over just to give his jittery hands something to do. Harry can’t help the roll of his eyes at Louis’ words, but he can’t deny that he feels a burst of arousal in his gut at Louis’ cocky tone.

Figuring that he can’t avoid looking at Louis forever, Harry finally looks up and almost instantly regrets it. Louis’ leaning against his desk, twirling a pen between his fingers-- something that definitely does not make Harry think about the various skilled activities those fingers must be capable of-- his hip jutted out at an angle that really accentuates his ass.

Harry takes a deep breath and then huffs out, “What can I do for you, Louis?”

Louis looks up slowly, drawing his eyes hungrily over the mostly unbuttoned blouse covering Harry’s chest, making sure to pause for awhile on the swallow tattoos near Harry’s collarbones.

“Love, there are so many things you can do for me,” Louis purrs out, and Harry coughs loudly, hoping to cover up the involuntary moan he omits at that.

“But none that are appropriate for an office at this time of day,” Louis adds with a smirk, pointedly doing another hungry scan of Harry’s body. Harry tries his best not to squirm, cursing himself at how suddenly he loses authority over the room, and his own body, the moment Louis walks in.

Harry stands up a little too quickly, almost knocking over his chair, and snaps, “I really don’t have time for your inappropriate advances right now. May I remind you that I’m only here to clean up the mess you are seemingly incapable of keeping in your pants?”

Harry cringes inwardly at this comeback, especially when Louis licks his lips at this and raises an eyebrow.

Not allowing Louis to get a word in, Harry gathers up some random papers that he quickly stuffs into a briefcase, possibly slamming the lid down a bit harsher than necessary. “Now, if you don’t have anything pressing, I’m going to take my lunch so I can get back to the work I’m doing for you.” Harry brushes past Louis, gasping slightly when his shoulder bumps Louis’.

Harry rushes to the elevator, pushing the button several times like an impatient child until the doors open. He catches one last look at Louis before the doors close on him. Harry lets out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding, leaning against the cool back wall of the elevator.

Harry wants to scream at his own stupidity and lack of control when it comes to Louis. He has quite the reputation as a fierce powerhouse in the political world, yet when it comes to one sleazy (but absolutely stunning) douchebag, all his years of work building up his authority come crashing down.

And he really truly does not understand this immense attraction. Harry didn’t build his entire political empire by relinquishing control and letting someone else call the shots. Yet when it comes to Louis, Harry can’t help how arousing he finds Louis’ dominating personality. It’s a little unnerving because Harry isn’t used to this feeling.  

As the elevator doors open onto ground level, Harry hurries out and tries to focus on professional things, but unfortunately right now that doesn’t help anything as his professional life revolves around Louis as much as his private life.

He heads into his favorite cafe right around the corner, relieved to have some alone time to regain his composure before he goes back to work. Because when he goes back to work, he absolutely needs to be the one controlling the room, not Louis Tomlinson and his damn sex appeal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lucky for Harry, the intense sexual tension seems to have cooled down between him and Louis that afternoon, or at least they avoid each other enough to not have any distracting encounters…. or overly distracting encounters.

When Harry enters the office after lunch, he is feeling more relaxed and confident in his ability to maintain a normal persona around the sex god he has unfortunately let into his office. His resolve only falters slightly when he notices that previously mentioned sex god had taken off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, really showing off his bulging, tattooed arms.

He feels slightly bad since he’s probably overcompensating for his anxiety and acting a bit too harsh and demanding of his employees. He definitely does not miss the glares Niall throws his direction after dropping a folder and causing Harry to yell, possibly because Harry feels anxious about the intensity of Louis’ gaze on him right before Niall dropped it.

And if he snaps at Liam and Zayn for being too affectionate in the office, it’s definitely not because Louis may or may not have just caught Harry staring at his bum right before.

And then of course, there are the few brief, but incredibly momentous (for Harry at least), moments when they fleetingly share a touch. The first time happens after Harry almost trips over a chair in his haste to leave the room after Louis makes an especially sensual comment, and it’s Louis’ strong hands on his back and waist that prevent him from face planting.

The second time, Louis’ too busy walking and checking his phone to notice as he collides right with the back of Harry, which unfortunately brings Louis’ crotch far too close to Harry’s ass for Harry to remain totally professional.

And the final time, as all five men are sat around the giant conference table, deeply engrossed in various files covering men Louis had had one-night liaisons, Louis’ chair slowly seemed to move closer and closer to Harry’s. Harry pretended not to notice Louis’ closening presence, but honestly, Harry had been attuned to every one of Louis’ movements since they first met.

Harry couldn’t pretend to be oblivious, though, once Louis’ chair was literally pressed up right against his own, and Louis started looking over Harry’s shoulder, breath blowing against the back of Harry’s neck and muscular thigh pressed up against Harry’s.

All in all at the end of the day, no one ended up fighting or fucking in the office, so Harry counts it as an overall success.

Between trying to work and trying to ignore the way the butterflies in his stomach start up in a frenzy every time he looks at Louis, Harry doesn’t even realize it before Niall is not so subtly letting him know that it’s 5pm and that Harry had promised they’d actually work normal business hours today.

Harry sighs, looking down at all the work he had been planning on finishing today, and then looks at Niall’s hopeful face. Harry Styles and Associates has never been known to work normal 9-5 hours, and they had been working even later than normal recently trying to get this case with Louis done ASAP. His team has been working so hard, and he doesn’t want to renege on his word.

“Yeah, of course you can go, Nialler,” Harry says, trying to force up a smile on his face through his stress and exhaustion. Niall claps him on the back and waves bye to the rest of them, rushing out in time to meet some people at a bar.

Harry looks at the remaining three men in the room and says, “Go on, go on. I promised an early night, and I meant it. I’ll just stay a little longer and go over a few more things.”

He can notice the looks of excitement Zayn and Liam exchange, but then Zayn says slowly, “Nah, we can stay and work with you. Can’t have you working here all alone late into the night.”

“No, you lads leave. I’ll see to it that he’s not left all alone,” a voice from across the room says.

Everyone turns and looks at Louis, who’s leaning back in his chair and looking very pleased with himself. Zayn snickers a little too loudly, and Liam very obviously rolls his eyes, but they don’t protest.

Harry, suddenly finding himself at a loss for words, sends a pleading look to Liam, hoping his puppy eyes clearly convey the message he’s going for: “Liam, please please please, don’t leave me here alone with this sex god.”

Thank god for Liam, who looks between Harry and Zayn and then says, “Um, Zayn and I can stay a bit longer. It’s really not a problem.”

It is almost comical how both Zayn and Louis’ faces fall simultaneously at this statement, but Harry’s already smiling and saying, “Great, thanks mate” and already passing out new folders to each of them. He pretends to ignore as Zayn clearly whispers something very heated and annoyed into Liam’s ear.

Soon the four men are silently working again, and it’s the first time since Louis arrived this afternoon that Harry actually feels like he’s getting something accomplished. He’s so focused on work that he doesn’t even notice until Louis is fake coughing so incredibly loudly that Harry’s about to scream at him to shut the fuck up when he notices why Louis’ making such a raucous.

Somehow Liam has ended up in Zayn’s lap again, whispering something in his ear that has Zayn clutching Liam’s thigh tightly and subtly grinding up against him. Harry sighs, feeling bad that he’s making them give up their night out together in order to help Harry avoid the man he’s hopelessly lusting after and also who’s currently employing him.

“Liam, why don’t you and Zayn call it a night? We’ll be fine here without you. We’re practically done anyway,” Harry says, trying to act as chipper as possible. His voice cracks a little at the end, and he curses himself for acting so much like a child with a stupid crush.

Liam tries not to look completely relieved, but he and Zayn are practically out the door the second after Harry says that, thanking him for letting them go and telling them not to have too much fun without them. Harry blushes fiercely at that little taunt, reminding himself to purposefully mess up Liam’s coffee order tomorrow morning...

With Zayn and Liam’s exit, it leaves only Harry and Louis in the conference room. It’s the first time they’ve been completely alone, and Louis would be lying if he said that he wasn’t hoping to take advantage of this time.

Harry, though, very clearly ignores Louis, going so far as to pick up his stack of folders and move to the other end of the table. He briefly explains to Louis that he wants more room to spread out, but since he can’t even bring himself to make eye contact with Louis, it’s probably pretty obvious that isn’t the real reason for his readjustment.

Harry makes sure to spread his folders out all over half the table, occasionally walking around and switching up the folder he looks at, trying to work off some of the nervous energy buzzing through him.

Harry is bent over an open folder, scanning the information on Tom Williams, a one-night stand Louis had had exactly three months, one week, and four days ago, who also happened to be a hopeful Democratic White House intern. Harry figures that Tom is too young and hopeful in his career to risk spilling anything about Louis’ homosexual tendencies… and if Harry wants to be the one to threaten Tom into signing an NDA to prevent him from talking about his night with Louis, it is all completely professional and not because Harry is jealous at all.

Suddenly, Harry feels someone’s hand on his shoulder and a chest pressed up against his back. Louis’ standing behind him, reading the folder over Harry’s shoulder. Harry tries to continue breathing normally, even as he feels an intense heat swirl through his loins, and his stomach starts clenching in desire.

He resists every urge within himself that is telling him to lean back and grind against Louis’ comforting warmth, instead trying to focus on the words that are suddenly swimming before his eyes.

Harry feels Louis’ hand begin to massage his shoulder, and he inadvertently lets out a little whimper. He’s been extremely stressed, what with the job but mostly from having to hide his complete and total attraction to Louis for so long, and he can’t help the way his body responds so quickly to Louis’ touch.

Louis no longer pretends to read over the folder, rather stepping behind Harry so that he can get both hands on Harry’s shoulders, digging in and working the tension out of Harry’s shoulders.

Harry’s brain is screaming at him to stop this, but this is probably the best feeling he’s ever felt in his entire life, and it just seems… sacreligious to stop this experience. Harry feels himself softening and relaxing into Louis’ touch, and he doesn’t even realize until it’s already happening, but he’s thrown his head back against Louis’ shoulder and is literally MOANING at Louis’ touch.

The moment he realizes that he’s doing this, he freezes and tries to figure out a way to pass this off as purely professional. As he freezes, he feels Louis freeze too, not wanting to push their already very questionably porous boundaries.

“Harry?” Louis’ breath tickles across the back of Harry’s neck, and Harry feels like yelling at his own traitorous body at the way he shivers in response. Slowly, Louis turns Harry around so that they are face to face, and unfortunately for Harry, crotch to crotch.

“Is this okay, babe?” Louis whispers out.

Harry knows he should say no.

He knows that this is totally against every protocol and procedure he set in place for himself.

He knows that if Louis were any regular client, Harry would be reprimanding him like no other at his seducing behavior in this already tumultuous situation.

But Louis isn’t just any regular client. He’s Louis. He’s the most beautiful person Harry’s ever seen. He can be so controlling yet so gentle and real when he needs to be. And Harry has been completely head over heels for him since the moment he walked into his home office that fateful moment at 5:13am.

And so, despite his brain screaming at him to stop, Harry throws all caution to the wind and leans down until his lips are almost pressed against Louis’.

“Is _this_ okay with you, babe?” Harry smugly repeats Louis’ exact words.

Louis surges forward and connects their lips, finally, after way too long. And it’s absolutely perfect. Well, objectively their teeth bump together a bit, and Harry’s gasping too hard at first to kiss Louis back, but even, or maybe especially, that initial gracelessness is so just _LouisandHarry_.

Louis grips the front of Harry’s shirt tightly, pulling Harry in close to him as he kisses him harshly and without any sense of teasing. They’ve teased each other enough to last a lifetime; right now is about finally getting what they have both desired so much for the entire time they’ve known each other.

Harry moans and melts into Louis’ touch, and it takes him a few moments to get his limbs to cooperate enough so that he can reach up and grip both hands into Louis’ soft hair. He pulls Louis’ head towards him, trying to get his mouth impossibly closer to Louis’ soft lips.

Louis’ lips detach from Harry’s, and before Harry’s able to vocalize his dissatisfaction, Louis’ mouth has found a new home on Harry’s neck. Louis kisses and licks his way from Harry’s jawline down to his collarbone where Louis pauses to suck harshly in the little nook where Harry’s neck connects with his shoulder.

Harry moans out loudly and inadvertently bucks his hips forward against Louis’. His neck has always been a sensitive spot, and on top of that, he’s never had anyone as damn sexy as Louis plastered up against his front, sucking on his neck as if he’s on a desert island and Harry’s neck is the last ice cube available.

Harry grips his hands tighter into Louis’ hair, throwing his head back as another moan falls from his lips. Louis’ hands trail down Harry’s chest until he’s tugging Harry even closer by his belt loops. His hands settle along Harry’s love handles, and Louis smirks slightly against Harry’s heated skin at Harry’s stilted breathing as Louis grips his hips tightly enough to leave bruises.

Moving his mouth over to the other side of Harry’s neck, Louis discovers that the spot right below Harry’s ear is especially sensitive, so Louis pauses to suck another bruise, finding additional arousal at the thought that he can finally mark Harry up and claim him as his own.

Louis grinds his hips forwards and feels that Harry’s just as hard as he is, both straining in their dress pants.

“I’ve wanted you since the moment I first saw you,” Louis whispers in his ear, adding on a quick bite and suck to his earlobe.

"Louis," Harry gasps out, rocking up to grind against Louis.

His hands trail down to grip Harry’s perky ass, and he moves their mouths back together. Louis barely registers the little moans falling from his own lips because they are being drowned out by the loud gasps and moans Harry’s making. His hands still wound tightly through Louis’ hair, Harry starts rocking his hips forward, grinding against Louis’ leg.

It only takes a light push from Louis for Harry to catch on to what he wants, and he quickly hops onto the giant conference table behind him, not pausing to detach their lips. Now that Harry’s sitting on the table, he’s a bit shorter than Louis, and he uses that to his benefit. He removes his hands from Louis’ hair and slides them down Louis’ sides until he gets to Louis’ waist.

Still lapping into Louis’ mouth with vigor, Harry starts tugging at his shirt, pulling it out of his pants. Finally free from the confines of a tucked in shirt, Harry quickly slides his big hands under Louis’ shirt, gripping his hips firmly.

Louis gasps out against Harry’s lips, causing Harry to smirk slightly, but Louis’ lips are almost immediately back against his, wiping the smirk off Harry’s face as he lets out a gasp upon feeling Louis trailing his fingers against Harry’s thighs.

As he continues to stroke Harry’s perfect thighs, Louis feels extremely pleased with himself at the shivers and moans he’s pulling from this extraordinary boy. But, again, he’s really not looking to tease right now. They’ve done that enough already and there will be time for that later. Right now, Louis just really fucking wants to be inside the moaning mess of a man in front of him.

Continuing to kiss Harry passionately, he unbuttons Harry’s shirt, fingers moving deftly to ensure that Harry’s shirtless as soon as possible. Louis pushes the shirt off Harry’s shoulders and rubs his hands down Harry’s muscular back, rubbing soothing circles in his lower back. He keeps his hands moving the whole time, always touching a different part of Harry, keeping Harry aroused and unsure of where Louis will go next.

Quickly, Louis unbuckles Harry’s belt (this isn’t his first time rushing to undress a man in a circumstance and setting where they probably should most definitely not be getting undressed), and as he hurriedly pulls it open, it makes a kind of cracking noise in the air.

Harry detaches their lips to throw his head back and practically screams out a moan; Louis stores away that interesting tidbit of information about Harry and his reaction to belts for another time.

Finally Louis makes fast work of the buttons on Harry’s pants, and Harry barely has time to raise his hips before Louis’ yanking his pants down to pool around his ankles. Harry’s cock springs free, and Louis feels hot desire curling in his stomach as he unconsciously swallows and licks his lips. He’s seen more than his fair share of dicks in his time, and this is probably the best-looking cock he’s ever seen.

Louis drops to his knees, all guises of finesse gone, and stares at the sight before him. Harry’s thighs are shaking slightly and his stomach muscles quiver. His chest is lean and muscular with several tattoos popping out from his pale skin.

There are so, so many things Louis wants to do to him-- high on that list is to worship his absolutely perfect body-- but right now he’s got other plans.

Looking up and meeting the lust-blown eyes of Harry, Louis says, “I want to taste you.”

Harry bites his bottom lip and nods his head quickly, green eyes never leaving blue eyes. Louis reaches forward and grips Harry’s big cock, leaning down and laying a few little licks along the head and then licking one big stripe up from the base to the slit before taking almost his entire cock down his throat.

Harry gasps, head thrown back, one fist tugging at his own hair and the other pressing firmly into the back of Louis’ head. Louis continues staring up at this beautiful man as he slowly bobs his head up and down, making sure to swirl his tongue in varying ways and alter the amount of suction he applies.

Truthfully, it’s been a little while since Louis’ given head; when he has a quick shag in a bar restroom he doesn’t usually risk touching someone else’s genitals without a condom on, and he’s never really understood blowjobs with a condom on.

And, wow, Louis almost forgot how much he enjoys giving head. He loves the power he feels over his partner, because all the pleasure either of them gets is coming from him. He’s the one who gets to reduce his partner to a moaning mess.

And that’s how he felt about blowjobs _before_ he’d met Harry, and he’s never been with someone as responsive as Harry. Louis’ getting more and more aroused by the second as Harry’s noises become increasingly louder.

Louis notices that Harry’s looking down at him now, so he puts on a bit of a show. He looks directly into Harry’s eyes as he takes Harry all the way down his throat, further than he has yet, making sure to suck in his cheeks obscenely and moan around Harry’s cock. That does it for Harry as his fingers dig into Louis’ scalp and he bucks his up slightly, letting out a loud, “fuck Louis, your mouth.”

Batting his long eyelashes up at Harry, Louis holds his head down almost all the way on Harry’s cock in order to allow himself time to adjust and let his throat relax. Swallowing around Harry a few times, Louis manages to push his head down further until he has all of Harry down his throat, his nose brushing lightly against the little hairs at the base of Harry’s cock.

Harry’s trembling so much that Louis slightly worries he might fall off the table, so he grips Harry’s thighs tightly, making Harry moan and swear louder. Louis pulls off almost all the way, sucking just on the head and flicking his tongue against Harry’s slit while he works his hand over the rest of Harry’s length.

While he does that, he removes his other hand from Harry’s thigh and begins lightly rolling Harry’s balls with his other hand, and suddenly Harry’s tugging on Louis’ hair and gasping out, “close, close.”

Smirking around Harry’s cock, Louis takes him further, working his head in fast, twisty bobs, and it’s only a few more seconds before Harry’s squeezing his eyes shut in pleasure and shouting out Louis’ name as he comes down Louis’ throat.

Louis keeps his head still, swallowing down everything Harry gives him, and he slides off with a loud pop when Harry starts whining from oversensitivity. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Louis stands up so he’s on the same level as Harry again.

Harry looks absolutely destroyed, all flushed cheeks and red bitten lips. He reaches out for Louis, and Louis allows himself to be guided forward by Harry’s hands tugging on his shirt.

Cupping Harry’s cheeks gently, Louis leans forward and kisses him lightly, allowing them both to regain their breath and slow their panting while ensuring they remain touching. Louis kisses Harry’s lips softly before laying kisses all over Harry’s face: his cheeks: tip of the nose, bridge of the nose, eyelids, forehead, and back to his cheeks.

Louis leans forward and rests his forehead against Harry’s, mouths not quite touching but close enough to breath against each other. Harry’s face molds into a lazy, wide smile, and Louis can’t help poking right into the giant dimple that pops up on Harry’s cheek.

Just as Louis’ leaning in for another kiss, Harry’s gone, scooting backwards on the giant table, pulling his shoes and pants off as he goes. Harry looks so soft and kissable, his light skin against the dark wood of the table, laid out looking completely fucked out all from Louis’ mouth.

Staring at Harry, Louis palms at himself through his trousers, feeling the intensity of the erection he’s had for ages now. Harry’s eyes follow Louis’ movement and he watches Louis touch himself with wide, hungry eyes.

Not breaking eye contact with Louis’ crotch, Harry takes one finger and sucks it into his mouth obscenely before reaching down between his legs and running it over his hole.

Louis gasps at the sight before him; he hadn’t expected Harry to want anything more so soon after his orgasm, but the sight before him is probably the hottest thing he’s ever seen. Harry continues circling his finger around his hole, not pushing in but teasing slightly. He takes his other hand, licks the palm, and softly begins tugging at his softening cock, working it back up to full hardness.

Louis’ actually just gaping at Harry at this point, stuck in a sex-induced trance. Harry is literally every fantasy teenage-Louis ever could have imagined, and it’s a little absurd to Louis that he’s really here in front of him.

When Harry notices the way that Louis is staring at him, he smirks and finally pushes the one finger slightly into his hole, making a show of throwing his head back against the table and moaning loudly.

This breaks Louis out of his trance, and before he can really even register what he’s doing, he’s crawling onto the table to get between Harry’s legs. He bats Harry’s hands away, gasping as Harry pulls out of his hole which causes him to clench around nothing.

Staring at Harry’s clenching, puckered hole, Louis tugs his shirt over his head, not even attempting to undo the buttons. He quickly undoes his own belt and pants, pushing them down to his knees and freeing his cock all in one go. Harry whimpers when he finally sees Louis’ naked body, his cock spurting out precome against his stomach.

Harry sits up and begins reaching for Louis, but Louis bats his hands away and lightly pushes Harry to lie back down as he gives himself a few tugs.

Harry pouts at this rejection and whines out, “fuck, I want you inside me so badly.”

Louis has to grip the base of his cock and stop jerking himself so that he doesn’t come before he can give Harry everything that he wants.

He surges forward and kisses Harry harshly, using one hand to hold his body up against Harry’s and the other to grip at the back of Harry’s neck, pulling him up to meet his eager mouth.

Louis unwittingly grinds down slightly, and their bare cocks rub against each other, causing both men to moan. Harry moves to grab Louis’ hips and hold him against him, but Louis’ warm body is suddenly gone, not touching Harry’s at all. Harry blinks and sits up, confused.

Louis has hopped off the table, and he’s kicked his shoes and pants off, all of which Harry approves of.

What Harry doesn’t approve of is that Louis’ now rooting through his briefcase. Harry tries to pose coquettishly and purrs out, “you’re choosing work over me right now?”

Louis glances up at him before going back to the briefcase, a smirk prominent on his face. Suddenly he slams the briefcase’s lid closed, and he shakes a condom and packet of lube in Harry’s direction.

“Oh,” is all Harry can say as he watches Louis climb back onto the table, pushing various work papers and folders onto the floor as he crawls over to settle between Harry’s legs.

Louis tears open the packet of lube with his teeth and globs out a healthy portion onto his first three fingers. With his clean hand, he lifts Harry’s legs up and over his shoulders as he lies down on his stomach. Louis tilts his head and begins pressing kisses and love bites to Harry’s sensitive inner thighs, making Harry whine and wiggle beneath him, his desire for Louis practically overwhelming him.

On a particularly sharp love bite, Louis pushes one finger into Harry’s tight heat, causing both to gasp at the feeling.

“You’re so tight, baby,” Louis says and Harry just whimpers in response, savoring the feel of Louis pushing his finger all the way inside him. Louis wiggles his finger around a little bit, searching, until he finds the spot he was looking for, the one that makes Harry’s hands fist in his own hair, his back arch off the table, and a shout of “LOUIS” fall from his lips.

Feeling very pleased with himself, Louis begins pumping his finger in and out of Harry, making sure to press against his prostate on each little thrust. Harry’s moaning and whining continuously, tugging harshly at his hair and thrashing his head back and forth on the table. It doesn’t take long for Louis to deem Harry ready for a second finger, so he gently slides a second inside.

Harry’s eyes fly open from where they had been squeezed shut in pleasure, and Louis sees that his pupils are almost completely blown out.

Without realizing what he’s saying, Louis starts whispering, “You’re so pretty. The prettiest. Baby, holy shit, you are the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.”

He pumps and scissors the two fingers into Harry with each compliment, and Harry looks like he might cry from the incessant pressure on his prostate mixed with Louis’ praises.

Louis glances down and sees that Harry’s cock, though left unattended, is rock hard, arching up against his stomach and blurting out a fairly steady stream of precome. Smirking once again, Louis pulls out his fingers only to push all three back in, gently at first but firmly.

Harry moans so loudly that for a second Louis stops, about to shush him before he remembers that no one is there to hear them.

“You sound so good, Harry. Love the sounds you’re making for me.”

Noticing that Harry gets louder and more desperate as Louis praises him, Louis decides to test something out. He continues pushing his fingers against Harry and scissoring them to prep him, but with his other hand he gently strokes one of Harry’s thighs as he murmurs, “Baby, you’re doing so well. You’re so good for me. Taking my fingers so so well.”

Harry literally yelps out at this and begins grinding down on Louis’ fingers, which Louis allows…. this time. This is definitely an interesting development and something Louis would thoroughly enjoy discussing and potentially exploring more later.

Feeling like Harry’s ready, and they’re both needy enough, Louis pulls his fingers out, wiping them on his own hips. Harry whines and looks up at Louis with alarm in his eyes at the sudden lack of stimulation. Louis crawls forward and kisses Harry’s lips gently to reassure him.

Pulling away, Louis asks him, “I’m going to fuck you now, if that’s what you want.”

Harry chews on his bottom lip and nods eagerly. That’s not good enough for Louis, so he reaches forward and gently pulls Harry’s bottom lip out from his gnashing teeth.

“When I ask you a question, I expect you to answer in words, Harry,” Louis says in a stern voice, and somehow his cock gets even harder as Harry moans out at this, apparently being turned on by Louis’ controlling tone. Also an interesting thing for Louis to put aside for later discussion.

Staring deeply at Louis, Harry takes a few breaths before he whispers, “please fuck me.”

Satisfied with that answer, Louis slides down him and grabs the condom. It takes him a couple tries to get it unripped with his already lubey fingers, and he has to suppress swearing in anger at this delay in getting inside Harry.

Finally he gets the condom out and rolls it down his own ridiculously hard length. He pours the rest of the lube onto his fingers and rubs it on the condom, making sure that it will be wet enough not to hurt Harry. Then he crawls back up Harry’s body, holding his body hovering over Harry’s with one hand as he reaches down and guides his cock towards Harry’s opening.

Harry gasps and tries to push down his hips just at Louis teasing his tip against Harry’s rim. Louis pulls back, tsking slightly, “Greedy boy.”

Harry pouts and whimpers out, “Sorry, I-- I just want you so much.” Louis can’t really argue with that, so he leans forward and pushes in without hesitation.

Harry feels so fucking warm and tight around him, it’s ridiculous. As Louis guides himself in all the way, he has to go excruciatingly slowly as to prevent himself from either pounding relentless into Harry before he’s ready or just coming immediately.

Once Louis’ fully sheathed in Harry, he drops his head onto Harry’s shoulder, breathing heavily as he waits for them both to get used to this insanely perfect feeling. After a few more breaths Harry moans out, “move please,” and Louis’ extremely happy to oblige this perfect boy below him.

He kisses Harry’s collarbone once before pulling out slightly and jerking his hips forward. He attempts a few small thrusts, savoring Harry’s moans, while trying to find the best angle. After one thrust where he shifts his hips slightly, Harry screams and squeezes his legs tightly around Louis’ waist.

“There, there,” Harry whimpers out, and Louis can’t do anything but nod as he pulls out almost completely before slamming back in to Harry, aiming for that same spot.

At this point, they’ve both been on edge for so long tonight, and they’ve both wanted this moment for so long that Louis throws his self-restraint to the wind and begins slamming into Harry fast and hard, chasing his orgasm and bringing Harry to his own release. Little grunts and moans are falling from Louis’ lips, but he barely notices, focusing on the incredible sensation around his dick and the beautiful boy he’s pleasuring.

“Fuck, Harry, I don’t think I’m gonna last long,” he says, not even feeling embarrassed at quickly he’s been brought to the edge.

Harry mumbles something, pressing his face against Louis’ chest, losing himself in the feeling. Louis’ not entirely sure what he said, but it sounded like he was agreeing with him. So Louis tilts his hips up slightly, just enough for him to reach between them and grab Harry’s cock.

He begins jerking Harry in time with his thrusts, flicking his wrist slightly as he grazes over Harry’s prostate each time. Suddenly, Harry falls silent, and before Louis can react he’s coming onto both of their stomachs, mouth wide in a silent scream and head thrown back, banging against the table.

The way that Harry clenches around Louis with the force of his orgasm sends Louis hurdling right towards his own, and then he’s coming, thrusting in and holding deep within Harry.

Louis’ whole body trembles and tingles with the orgasm, warmth and pleasure spreading through his entire body, and he honestly isn’t sure if he just clenches his eyes shut especially hard or if he actually whites out slightly at the force of his orgasm.

Coming down from his intense release, Louis gingerly pulls out of Harry, both men wincing slightly at the loss of feeling from each others’ bodies. Louis yanks off the condom, ties it, and tosses it onto the floor. He notices Harry just lying there, limbs sprawled around him, chest heaving, eyes closed. Louis reaches over and grabs his shirt from where he had tossed it on the table and gently wipes up the cum on Harry’s chest.

When he looks back at Harry, he sees that he’s smiling widely, eyes still closed. Louis crawls over to him and lays down next to him, gathering him up in his arms and resting Harry’s head against his chest. He strokes Harry’s sweat-drenched curls with one hand, the other resting on Harry’s hip.

Harry hums at this gentle touch, curling into Louis’ touch. Louis lays a kiss to the top of Harry’s head, trying to save the so-very-Harry smell to his memory forever. After just laying there for a bit, Louis finally breaks the comfortable silence.

“Took you long enough to give in to my advances.”

Harry snorts at this, opening his eyes and looking up at Louis. “You realize that you hired me to fix this exact sort of situation, right?”

Louis rolls his eyes and smiles fondly at Harry, kissing the tip of his nose. “Babe, there is absolutely nothing about this situation that needs to be fixed.”

Now Harry’s rolling his eyes, “Yeah except for the part where you have a wife and are running for Vice--”

Louis slaps a hand over Harry’s mouth and watches in amusement as Harry’s eyes grow comically wide. Louis figures that Harry’s not used to many people daring to interrupt him when he talks about his work, but right now Louis is entirely in play mode and does not even want to think about work mode. “Hey, darling? Please don’t ruin the moment.”

He moves his hand, and Harry giggles slightly before closing his eyes and nuzzling back into Louis’ chest. Louis rubs his back, tracing random shapes and lines along Harry’s soft skin. Finally getting tired of running worse scenario after worse scenario over in his head, Louis lays his cheek down on the top of Harry’s head and whispers, “I hope that this wasn’t just a brief transgression. I really hope this was more than just a stress-reliever from all the work.”

Harry stiffens slightly against Louis, but he doesn’t respond immediately. Louis lays there anxiously, something he hasn’t felt around boys in years, regretting having said anything.

Finally when Louis is starting to wish he could just sink into the table and disappear, Harry says slowly, “You’re my client,” and Louis feels his heart shrivel up and thinks he might actually be sick.

Harry continues, “and as my client, I’d definitely tell you that pursuing a relationship with a man outside of your marriage is probably the stupidest thing you could do at this time.”

Louis takes a shaky breath in, feeling like he’s just been punched in the stomach. Untangling his limbs from Harry’s, he rolls out from under Harry and jumps off the table, stumbling around and hurriedly trying to grab all of his clothes so he can run away as fast as possible.

“Louis?” a soft voice comes from behind him, but he ignores it, not wanting to look at Harry and risk bursting into tears on the spot.

He doesn’t totally understand his intense reaction to Harry’s rejection, but he knows that right now he can’t let Harry know how much Louis had wanted this, had wanted him. It doesn’t exactly go with the unemotional playboy persona Harry had believed Louis to be.

Louis pulls on his pants, not bothering to find his underwear and hurries to pull on his shoes.

“Louis, please look at me.”

He only looks up because he can’t stand the hurt evident in Harry’s voice. Blue meets green, and it just feels so right for Louis, but he knows where this is going. He feels anger boiling in him at the fact that Harry so clearly wants to humiliate him, dragging out the rejection as painfully as possible.

Harry’s curled up on the table, hugging his legs to his chest, and he looks rather small and vulnerable like this. “That’s what I would say if you were just my client... But I don’t want you to just be my client. I want so much more with you, and that scares me. I’m not used to being out of control and not having the solution. So I don’t know what to do but I do know that I want you with every breath I take, and tonight just proved that to me.”

Louis feels his face break into a wide smile, and he surges forward to press his mouth against Harry’s. Between kisses Louis manages to breathe out, “You don’t need to know what to do next. That’s okay. We’ll figure it out together.” Continuing to cradle Harry's face, Louis says, “We’ll figure it out, I promise. It’s okay to not always be in control. It’s okay to let someone else take care of you instead of the other way around for once.”

"I trust you, Lou, I really do," Harry breathes out, his warm breath a welcome feeling against Louis' own lips. "It's just... I don't know how to do this. I don't know how to let go and give in to my feelings." 

Louis nods, because he understands. He really does. He understands because it's also hard for him to admit that perhaps his years of precise, scheduled out sex... his years of refusing to indulge his own feelings and pursue a relationship... that may have been not merely stemming from a place of self-preservation but rather from a fear of what _could_ _be_ if he actually allowed himself to actually feel.

So instead of voicing his jumbled thoughts, Louis pulls Harry forward, hugging him tightly.

Neither really wants to break the hug and lose the comforting touch of the other, but eventually Harry starts shivering, still completely naked, and since Louis doesn’t want Harry experiencing any sort of discomfort, so he pulls them apart.

They both get dressed in a comfortable silence, occasionally exchanging slight touches as they pass each other. Louis can’t seem to stop smiling, and whenever he glances over at Harry, he sees that giant dimple.

When they’re both fully dressed, Louis reaches out and takes Harry’s hand in both of his, rubbing little circles against Harry’s wrist.

They just look at each other, smiling fondly, until Harry finally says, hesitant to break the silence, “I guess we should probably clean up this mess.”

Louis looks over Harry’s shoulder to the conference table, and he starts laughing as he sees the mess of papers strewn about everywhere. Harry starts giggling, too, finding Louis’ laugh contagious.

“Okay, you’re right, boss man, but the only way you’re getting me to clean up is by bribing me with kisses,” Louis teases, and Harry’s definitely more than happy to lean down and kiss Louis for the rest of his life if need be.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louis and Harry are both conflicted with what to do after their night together. More smut (because now that I've started, there probably won't be a chapter without it. Sorry, it's fun). There's a bit of undernegotiated kink in this chapter, but it's still all consensual and they will figure their shit out soon!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi my lovely, loyal readers! 
> 
> First of all, I want to say how much I appreciate everyone who reads this! I know it’s hard to convey true emotion via simple text, but it means so so so so much to know that people want to read the stuff I write, and I can never truly let you know how much each and every one of you means to me. As a small account, any and all readers I can get mean the complete world to me!! If I could, I’d send everyone some gift baskets to thank you for reading because we love capitalism and material goods here amirite ladies?
> 
> Also, I’d like to say how sorry I am for taking so long to update chapter four. I’ve really been struggling with a lot of mental health things and finding the motivation to write was not my strong suit. I also have been questioning whether or not to continue this piece. I have a clear outline for where the story could go if I want to keep writing, but I’m not sure if anyone would even care whether or not I finish this piece. 
> 
> I’ve been thinking a lot about abandoning this work, but I’ve decided to stick it out a little longer. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THE WORK AND WHETHER I SHOULD CONTINUE WORKING ON IT (comment below if you so choose). 
> 
> Another important note: I made a lot of changes to the story. When I published the first few chapters, I didn’t have a real outline for where things are going. But now I’ve figured things out and have a way more established path for the story to go down. 
> 
> So I edited the first three chapters, not significantly but enough that I think I made some of the characterization stronger and more stable. Sooooo if you were reading this before I added chapter four, I WOULD RECOMMEND REREADING THE FIRST THREE CHAPTERS (since it’s been so long since I updated and) since I changed things.

Harry’s woken up by the sound of his phone ringing, a shrill noise cutting through his heavy slumber. He groggily picks it up, feeling too sleep-hazed to even check who is calling or what time it is. 

“‘lo?” Harry mumbles out, voice sleepy and rough. 

“Hey, mate,” Niall’s cheerful voice sounds from the other end of the phone. “Where ya at? Thinking of coming in today?”

Harry’s confused about what Niall’s talking about until he looks over to his alarm clock and sees that it’s already past 9:30 in the morning. Harry’s normally the first person at the office, so it’s no wonder Niall’s calling him. Harry can’t even remember the last time he wasn’t at the office by 8, and now that he’s feeling more awake, he’s kind of surprised (offended??) that it’s taken so long for Niall to call him. 

“Shit, Nialler. I can’t believe I overslept. I’ll be there soon,” Harry says as he throws his long legs off the bed and drags his sleep-heavy body out of the warm comfort. 

He rubs his eyes to hopefully wipe some of the sleepiness out of them and uses his shoulder to prop up his phone so that both his hands are available to dig through his suitcase, which he still hasn’t bothered to fully unpack despite having been in DC for a couple weeks already. 

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Niall assures him. “I’m sure you needed some sleep after your, uh, late night of, uh, working.” 

Harry can definitely sense a trace of teasing in his tone, and his heart flutters as he also recalls the events that unfolded in the office last night. He can feel his face flushing as he remembers the way Louis had touched him last night, and it honestly feels slightly like a dream, his time with Louis. 

He’s not really sure how Niall would know; likely that Liam told him about leaving Louis and Harry alone last night and they just inferred the rest. 

But Harry’s probably just reading in to it too much. Maybe Niall was simply referring to the fact that he was at the office late. Harry’s probably jumping to conclusions, since it’s basically all he can do not to think about Louis constantly.

He shoves the memories of last night aside as he hurries to get dressed and hold onto the phone at the same time. 

“Niall, I’ll be there soon. Thanks for keeping things running while I wasn’t there.”

Luckily Niall doesn’t mention Harry’s obvious avoidance of his previous comment and just responds, “Course. See you soon.”

Harry sighs deeply as he hangs up and has to actively force himself to not think about Louis, which is very difficult to do as the soreness in his bum and legs is a constant reminder of last night.

He somehow manages to look presentable, grab a coffee from Starbucks, and make it to the office a short while later, an impressive feat considering the amount of time he usually likes to spend in the bathroom grooming himself each morning. 

When he rushes into the office, he’s painfully aware of the immediate silence that settles between his coworkers and the sudden lack of movement as Niall and Liam both look over at him. Liam at least has the decency to look a bit ashamed, but Niall is outright gloating at Harry, looking much too smug for Harry’s pre-coffee social interactions. 

“Late night, huh, boss?” Niall finally says, breaking the awkward silence that has settled over the room. 

Harry feels heat rising to his cheeks, so he ducks his head to hide his obvious reaction. He manages to take a sip of coffee, calming himself down a bit, before he speaks. 

“What have you lot gotten done so far this morning?” Harry says, instead. 

He pretends not to notice the blatantly obvious look shared between Liam and Niall, but Liam clears his throats and turns to Harry. 

“Niall here’s managed to track down two more of the guys, so we were planning on paying them a visit later today.”

Harry nods, taking another sip of coffee, and continues to try to act casual, despite feeling the intensity of both his associates’ gaze on him. As he turns slightly to look out the window and avoid their eye contact, he hears Niall cough loudly, and Harry rolls his eyes, unable to contain the smile breaking across his face. 

Niall really needs to learn to mind his own business, but if that was something that actually bothered Harry, he would have taken it up with his best friend years ago. 

Liam nudges Niall and shakes his head, but he’s clearly trying his best to hide his own shit-eating grin. Harry sighs, knowing that they aren’t going to get any work done until he at least humors them and lets them ask whatever’s on their mind. 

Plus, despite all his consistent attempts to not think about Louis, all he wants to do is relive their night together. And now that he’s in the exact room where it happened, looking at the big conference table that only a few hours previously he had absolutely been ravished on, it’s basically impossible for him not to think about Louis. 

Finally, he looks both men in the eyes and says, “Clearly there’s something you want to say to me, so go ahead.”

Liam, always Mr. Polite, looks like he’s going to deny it, but Niall, always Mr. Gossip, beats him to the punchline. “You get in a fight last night?”

Harry’s confused, not having expected that question. 

“No, why?”

“You got a nasty looking bruise there on yer neck, and I figured since yer single and all, the only logical explanation must be that ya got into a fight.” 

Harry’s eyes widen as he he comprehends what Niall’s said. He reaches up instinctively and touches the spot on his neck Niall’s pointing at, wincing slightly as he presses into the fresh bruise Louis left the night before. He’d been so pressed for time this morning that he really hadn’t looked in the mirror this morning. Oops. 

“Or is there something you wanted to tell us, your two hard-working colleagues and closest friends who you’ve always been able to share your deepest, darkest secrets with?” Niall adds, a teasing lilt to his words. 

Harry purses his lips, unsure of what all to tell them. It’s exactly as Niall had put it; although they are his two best friends, they also are his colleagues, and sometimes Harry wishes the lines between those two roles were a little less blurred. It makes for a trusting partnership but also means that he has no real separation between private and professional life. 

Ultimately, he knows that A) he probably would end up drunk and crying over Louis to his best friends soon enough anyway, and B) since he has now directly involved himself in what they are here working to hide all evidence of, as his employees they’ll need to know at some point in order to handle the situation. 

Knowing that he’s blushing furiously, Harry says, “Well, I’m sure that Liam would  _ never _ gossip,” Liam chokes slightly on his coffee at Harry’s obvious sarcasm.  “So it might come as a bit of a surprise that I stayed late working last night, um, with Lou…”

“ _ Lou _ ?” Niall asks with an eyebrow raise. “Didn’t realize you two were on nickname terms.”

Harry blushes, having not realized his slip of the tongue, but eventually nods since he can’t technically deny it.  “Any way, we were working late, and basically, we kind of hooked up?” 

Niall starts cracking up, and Liam shakes his head, smiling smugly. 

“You  _ kinda _ hooked up, mate? Or you hooked up?” Niall teases. “I don’t know if there’s any in betweens. Maybe between all the nicknames and stuff, you could talk to  _ Lou _ and figure that one out.”

Harry blushes even more, feeling like his entire body is probably bright red. He really does not understand the effect Louis seems to have on him. Harry Styles is the best in the business. Everyone in England, heck everyone in America, respects Harry Styles. He is a fearsome force in the political realm, a world full of tough guys who are not easily intimidated. He built his own company, his own reputation, from the ground up. He is a legend among legends. 

Yet when it comes to Louis fucking Tomlinson, suddenly his entire professional rapport crumbles, and he becomes this bumbling, blushing schoolgirl with a hopeless crush. It is exhilarating yet nerve wracking how just one look from Louis, even now just one mention of him, can have Harry all hot and bothered. 

But despite Harry’s fear of being so out of control in this situation, there’s something thrilling about the way Louis Tomlinson just barged in and completely entranced him. 

Harry’s not used to feeling so out of control, so at the liberty of his emotions, but there is something about this feeling-- practically drowning in his complete enamoration for Louis-- that is intoxicating and makes Harry want to dive in even deeper. 

Coming back to the present moment, Harry realizes he must have gotten lost in his thoughts, if the looks on Niall and Liam’s faces are any indication. 

“Yeah, okay, we hooked up.  _ Definitely _ ,” Harry says, looking directly at Niall. 

“It was actually on this table, pretty much exactly where Liam’s sitting,” he tacks on in retaliation for his friends’ nosiness. 

Liam makes a sound like a sort of squawking and jumps up, nearly toppling his chair with the sudden movement, which just makes Niall double over with the intensity of his laughter. 

“I ate my breakfast on that table!!” Liam yelps, sounding traumatized, causing Harry to start laughing too. 

Once Niall’s got his laughing under control and Liam looks less offended, Harry finally gets the opportunity to get another word in. “Speaking of, uh, where’s Zayn? Did he mention if Louis is coming in again today?”

Harry knows he’s about as red as a tomato right now, but fuck it. He didn’t build his empire by avoiding asking the questions he wants answered. Not that he normally uses his power of persuasion for the sake of potentially seeing his crush. But, minor detail. 

Niall very obviously rolls his eyes, and Liam shakes his head in a fond manner. 

“Harry, we’ve gone over this a million times. Louis and Zayn are off on the campaign trail. Somewhere in Ohio today, I think,” Liam tells him. 

And yes, Harry did know that. He had just gotten so caught up in his infatuation with Louis that he didn’t realize that it was already time for them to head off again. Harry squishes down the disappointment at the thought he won’t be able to see Louis today, but that’s quickly replaced by a relief that he won’t have to face Louis just yet. He hadn’t had enough time to consider what he would say to him, what he actually wants from him. 

Between their little transgression last night and then having to clean up the mess they made of the conference table, Harry went home and almost immediately fell asleep. That, combined with being woken up by Niall, had given him absolutely no time to really think things over. 

And Harry is definitely the type of person who has to contemplate everything, borderline over-analyzing each situation, which can be a curse in a situation like this but is exactly what makes him so good at his job. 

Harry nods curtly, collecting his thoughts and stowing them away for later. 

“Right. Enough gossiping,” Harry puts on his professional work voice that always gets people to do what he wants. “Get back to work. We still have a lot to do.” 

Liam and Niall both nod, and after Liam picks up his stuff to move as far away from his previous spot as possible, he starts to sift through files and pages. Niall takes a bit longer to regroup and get back to work, but he makes sure to mumble, “Yeah gotta get back to work to eliminate all the competition for Haz, right?” 

Harry pretends not to hear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Louis visibly sighs as he and Zayn step into the elevator and watch the doors close behind them. He leans against the back wall and allows his body to sag, the exhaustion of the day finally showing now that they are alone. 

It had been a long day on the campaign trail-- countless handshakes, so many babies to kiss, an endless barrage of questions, and an insufferable amount of fake smiling that had caused currently the everpresent dull aching in his cheeks. 

Zayn’s on his phone, probably texting Liam, since they apparently can’t go two seconds without talking, and Louis’ half-tempted to get his own phone out… and possibly reach out to a certain curly haired man. 

Since they left DC at 5 this morning, Louis’ been so constantly in work-mode that he hasn’t allowed himself the luxury of thinking about the events of the previous night. He resists taking out his phone, not wanting to feel the disappointment when he inevitably does not have a message from Harry. 

Louis may be absolutely enamored by the man, causing him to make some questionable decisions, but that does not mean he’s suddenly become completely delusional. He knows that Harry’s not going to reach out to him first; Harry’s been the one actively rebutting the obvious sexual tension between them. 

Even though last night had been….. intense…. magical…. utterly breathtaking, Louis knows that Harry probably is freaking out right now about blurring the already tenuous lines between his professional and private life. And, despite all of Louis’ insistent flirting and teasing with him, the last thing he wants is to make Harry feel anything less than comfortable.

The elevator dings, signaling that they’ve reached their hotel floor, so Zayn and Louis silently step off and walk to their neighboring rooms.

As Louis reaches into his pocket to find his hotel room key, he feels Zayn grab his bicep, restricting his movement. Looking back at his second-in-command, Louis sees Zayn reach into his jacket pocket and pull out a pack of cigarettes, raising his eyebrows with the silent question. 

Louis nods and opens his door, allowing Zayn to go in first. He goes directly to the balcony door and steps outside, leaving the door open so Louis can follow. 

Zayn hands Louis a cigarette, and they light up in silence, both leaning over the railing slightly and looking at the city lights surrounding them. 

Zayn finally breaks the silence as he stubbs out the butt of his cig. 

“Another long day tomorrow,” he starts off casually, slowly turning to face Louis. Louis continues leaning over the railing, taking a few more puffs before he, too, stubbs out his cigarette and turns to face Zayn. 

Louis, more than anyone else, knows that Zayn must be up to something because he has always loathed small talk, and never in their years of friendship has Louis ever known him to initiate small talk without a clear motive. 

“Just a typical day for the United States vice presidential candidate and his right-hand man, right mate?” Louis humors Zayn, cocking his hip and arching an eyebrow.

Zayn nods and clasps his hands together in front of him, curling and uncurling his fingers several times. Louis just lets him jitter, waiting for Zayn to cut the crap and say whatever he wants to say. Just as Louis’ last bit of patience is running thin, Zayn finally speaks up. 

“You sure it’s a good idea to start something with Harry right now?”

Louis knew it was coming, but he still feels a wave of shock wash over him at Zayn’s bluntness. He doesn’t even question how Zayn knows. 

Before he can respond, Zayn holds up a hand to show he’s not finished. 

“Obviously I want you to be happy, Lou, I really do. But this isn’t exactly the ideal situation to start a relationship with him, ya know?” 

Louis looks down, feeling the weight of Zayn’s accusation, but more so, feeling the truth of them. He’s unsure exactly how to put his thoughts into words, so there’s a tangible, awkward pause between the two men. 

Finally Louis glances up at Zayn and says, “It’s different this time. He’s special.”

Zayn sighs, taking out another cigarette. He lights it up and takes a couple puffs before saying, “No offense, mate, but I always thought you were smart enough to realize you can’t throw away your career for one pretty boy.” 

Louis knows Zayn isn’t trying to upset him, but that doesn’t mean his words don’t hurt. He crosses his arms in front of his chest, slightly barricading himself and slightly hugging himself. 

“I know I’ve given you a lot of trouble over the years,” Louis begins. “And I get what you are saying. But Harry’s not like the other guys I’ve been with. I can’t stop thinking about him.” He looks directly into Zayn’s eyes, hoping to convey his pleading for Zayn to understand how serious this is for him. 

Zayn just shakes his head. “Louis, you’re ahead in all the polls. You’ve practically got this vice-presidency in the bag. You’ve worked too hard--  _ we’ve  _ worked too hard-- for you to run off with a man you barely know.”

Louis feels sick to his stomach, kind of wanting another cigarette of his own and kind of thinking a cigarette would definitely make him ill. Louis’ a man who’s not used to feeling out of control, but right now, he has absolutely no idea what to do about this situation he’s in. 

“What would you do, Zayn? What if it were you and Liam in our spot?”

Louis says it so quietly, and Zayn just continues smoking his cigarette while gazing out at the city that Louis almost wonders if he even heard him. Once Zayn’s finished the cig, he turns to face Louis head on.

“If it were me, and thank fuck it’s not because it really is a shitty situation, I would do everything I could to be with Liam…. because I think he’s it for me.” 

Louis slaps Zayn on the back, smiling at his best mate, and Zayn smiles back slightly, though the smile doesn’t reach his eyes. 

“It’s a shit spot for you to be in, Louis, and I know that, and I’m sorry. But-- but think about how much Harry would have to sacrifice to be with you. Think about what Jade has already sacrificed for you. I know you’re always thinking of others before yourself, and normally that drives me crazy, but right now, for the first and probably only time I’ll ever tell you this, you need to think less about yourself and more about others. Whatever you decide is going to affect not just you, but literally all of America.” 

Zayn huffs out a laugh with absolutely no humor in it, grimacing by the end. 

“Honestly, I think that it’s still so early into things that you have a chance to get out. It’s gonna suck, mate, and I know you want to be with him right now, but better sooner than later. Cut it off before either of you gets any more serious. There’s no other way for this to end other than you two breaking up, so might as well get it over with before anyone really gets hurt.” 

With that, Zayn turns to head back inside. As he’s stepping through the doorway, he looks back and says, “I really am sorry, Lou. When it’s all done, we’re gonna get shitfaced together, and I will personally find you the hottest bloke out there to fuck.”

Louis wrinkles his nose, trying to force a smile, because he knows Zayn is really trying his best to be both his best mate and his advisor, but that doesn’t mean what he said was easy for Louis to hear. 

Left alone on the balcony, Louis notices for the first time that night the strong breeze that’s making him shiver. He contemplates taking another cigarette but decides against it. He closes his eyes and runs his hands through his hair and over his face, sighing loudly. 

The problem is that Zayn didn’t say anything novel, nothing revolutionary. He said exactly what Louis knew he himself would advise someone else in this situation.

For God’s sakes, he wasn’t some 14 year old with a little playground crush. He was in line to be one of the most powerful men in the world, and he has absolutely no room to allow his emotions to rule his decision-making. 

So it’s decided, he thinks. When they get back to DC, he’s going to distance himself entirely from Harry and make sure nothing else happens between them. It’s not like he has any other choice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_ Harry hears the snick of his office door closing, and he looks up in surprise from where he’s seated at his desk, going over mundane paperwork. His heartbeat quickens when he sees Louis leaning against the door, dressed in a beautiful navy blue suit that accents his sparkling blue eyes and compliments his tanned skin perfectly, hip cocked and a smirk painted on his flawless face. _

_ Harry is frozen to the spot as he watches Louis push off the door and saunter over to Harry’s desk, brushing everything off the top of his desk in one fluid motion, arm muscles bulging under his jacket. He walks around to Harry’s side of the desk and sits down in Harry’s lap.  _

_ Harry swears his accelerated heartbeat comes to a sudden stop at this, and he’s pretty certain he is going to die (very happily) in this moment. Louis brings his arms up and drapes them over Harry’s shoulders, lightly brushing his fingers through the long curls at the base of Harry’s neck.  _

_ Harry can’t resist letting his eyes wander all over Louis’ chest, but Louis harshly tugs on Harry’s hair, eliciting a moan from Harry as his attention is drawn back up to Louis’ face. Harry feels a bit stunned as he watches the way Louis’ throat bobs as he swallows, and he’s barely even aware of his own movements as he reaches his hands up to grip the plumpness of Louis’ ass. _

_ “Did I say you could touch?” Louis hisses out, giving his hair another quick yank as Harry removes his hands and tightly grips the arms of the chair he’s sat in. _

_ “No,” Harry says, knowing his face must be flushed from the shame of having disobeyed and disappointed Louis. _

_ “No, what?” Louis says, grinding his hips down into Harry’s lap.  _

_ “No, sir,” Harry whispers, his embarrassment going straight to his cock.  _

_ Louis tilts his head as if deliberating something, and he draws one hand from its tight grasp in Harry’s hair to trace along the bottom of Harry’s jawline, across his cheekbone, and finally settling on top of Harry’s mouth. Harry eagerly opens his mouth and sucks in Louis’ thumb, swirling his tongue around it and humming contentedly now that he at least has something in his mouth.  _

_ “You’ve been a bad boy,” Louis drawls out, his accent thicker than usual with arousal. “I think I’m going to have to punish you. Gonna bend you over your own desk and spank you until you’re begging for my cock, hmm? What do you think of that, baby?” _

_ Harry’s cock is throbbing at Louis’ words, feeling so unbearably turned on, and it’s all he can do to whimper out, “yes, please, daddy.” _

 

Harry jolts awake with a start, sitting up in bed suddenly and trying to catch his breath. It takes him a couple moments to get oriented in the dark room, and he realizes although the previous events were a dream, he still is rock hard in his pants.

He lays his head in his hands, trying to rub away some of the fuzziness he feels from having startled awake so suddenly. 

The alarm clock on the nightstand by his head reads out 4:23am. 

Taking a moment to decide if it’s worth trying to fall back asleep, Harry dejectedly swings his legs out of bed, pulling himself to a standing position as he wills his erection to go down. He reckons he could just jerk one out right now and be done with it, but there’s something about that dream that has left him feeling unsettled and needing answers more than he needs a quick fix right now. 

He flicks on the room’s light and drops down into a chair to pull out his laptop. It takes him a moment of squirming around to get comfortable, and even when he’s settled, he still feels antsy. 

His mind keeps playing back to that one word-- “daddy”-- over and over, and Harry really does not know what to do or how to feel about it. 

What is his subconscious trying to tell him? 

Obviously he’s attracted to Louis, that’s no shocker. And Louis looks like walking sex when he wears a suit, so no biggie. Ever since Harry’s met Louis, he’s been fantasizing about being fucked by the blue-eyed man over his desk. None of that is surprising, or really too jarringly different than other dreams Harry’s been having recently. 

But this one took an odd turn. 

His dream-self had really enjoyed Louis bossing him around, and he’d even felt arousal at his own shame of disobeying Louis and having to call Louis a title of power: sir. 

Now that he’s awake, Harry feels kind of uncomfortable about that all. 

He doesn’t like to be told what to do; he’s always been his own boss. And he most definitely does not like being humiliated or degraded, yet even just remembering the dream has caused his previously softening cock to twitch again with interest. 

The worst (best?) part of the dream was how turned on he was at the prospect of being spanked, and then he’d called Louis “daddy”!!! Harry Styles is no fucking baby, and he shivers in disgust as he thinks of it. 

He’s definitely no virgin or stranger to rough sex, but he never took himself to be into any of the things his subconscious had just created. People who liked to be spanked, humiliated, and called their lovers “daddy” had issues, didn’t they? There were all some underlying trauma or something that had caused them to end up that way. 

And Harry Styles is extremely put-together and composed. He shouldn’t want to be calling another grown man Daddy. That’s just wrong. 

Although his mind is screaming that it is all so wrong, his body seems to have missed that memo. In his head, he tells himself it’s sick and twisted to want these things, but he can’t deny the way arousal curls deep in his gut at just the thought. 

Besides, even if he can get over this potential turn-on of his, there is no way he can indulge his fantasies. He is not one to give up control in any situation, and it scares him to think about how his attraction for Louis has, at times, rendered him helpless in situations. 

Instead of continuing to build this whole situation up in his head, Harry takes a deep breath and decides to go about things like he’d handle any workcase; by doing substantial research before deciding on a course of action. 

He logs into his laptop and pulls up Google. If he can’t get control of his own emotions, then goddamn it he’ll make his emotions stay in line through some good, old fashioned facts. 

He’s reading through various blogs and scientific/psychological articles on attraction to letting someone else control you, or  _ submitting _ to someone else, and while he’s reassured that this is a normal thing that plenty of people fantasize about, he doesn’t feel significantly better despite learning he’s not alone in his newfound arousal. 

It’s all fine and good for people to want to submit to someone else in bed, but Harry’s never thought of himself in that way at all. 

Sure, he likes a good pounding, likes to be fucked hard, but he’s always in control, always aware of what his top is doing. He’s never once thought about the possibility of allowing someone else to take complete control in the bedroom. 

He would never dream of kink-shaming anyone, and that’s not what he’s doing, he reassures himself. If other people want to be into this on their own time, that’s good for them. But it’s definitely not for him. 

Harry Styles, world-renown political force, being a submissive? 

No, it just does not work that. 

He sighs heavily and closes out of yet another dead-end site. What is it about Louis Tomlinson that has brought out this previously unknown side of Harry? 

If only there was a site that could answer “why do I (a successful leader) suddenly want to drop to my knees and obey anything said by a certain blue-eyed, sharp-jawed man?” 

Sighing once more just to really wallow in self-pity, Harry glances over to the clock and deems it late enough to start getting ready for work. 

As he heads into the bathroom and turns the water on for his shower, he contemplates what to do. He can’t avoid Louis since he’s working for him, so out-of-sight-out-of-mind is not an option. 

And he definitely cannot explore whatever it is that Louis makes him feel. If he could somehow,  _ somehow _ put aside the issues that Louis is his client, Louis’ his client involved in a sex scandal, Louis’s a notorious playboy only looking for a quick fuck, Louis’ married to a woman, Louis lives in America while Harry lives in England, and that Louis is running for fucking vice president of the United States, there’s the biggest issue of them all:

Harry’s afraid of the things he wants with Louis. He doesn’t know the person he is when he’s with Louis, which scares him. When he’s with Louis, he feels helpless to Louis’ every beck and call, the amount of power he lets Louis have over him scares him. Louis makes him feel out of control, and Harry’s unsure but thinks he might even like it, which  _ really _ scares him. 

Harry scrubs the soap across his skin perhaps a little too harshly as he’s lost deep in thought. No, he decides. He definitely cannot continue whatever this is he’s been doing with Louis. It’s better for both himself and for Louis.

The job always comes first, and he can’t afford to entertain ridiculous thoughts of happily ever after when in reality, being around Louis makes Harry feel such intense feelings he’s afraid of his own emotions. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Sir, we’ve arrived.” 

Louis slowly opens his eyes, squinting against the bright lights in the car. He rubs the sleep out of his eyes and nods his thanks to the driver, climbing out of the car and grabbing his single bag from the trunk. 

He hadn’t even realized that he’d fallen asleep on the drive home from the airport, but he’s always happy to sneak in a couple extra moments of sleep what with his hectic schedule and all. 

He unlocks the side door of his large house, dropping his bag right inside the doorway, and heads straight to the kitchen.

Glancing at his watch, he sees that it’s just a little past 10pm. Wow, was it really only two nights ago that he and Harry had been together? He feels utterly exhausted and as if it had been years since he’d seen that pretty, curly-haired man. 

His body moves in autopilot, mind wandering to thoughts of Harry, as he walks around the kitchen island to the liquor cabinet, pulling out his favorite bottle of Scotch. He frowns slightly as he notices that there’s not much left but concludes that there’s enough to get him at least buzzed and ready to sleep. 

He’s been drinking himself to sleep since they moved to America. At first he had been ashamed of this, but now he just sees it as a necessary evil. Everyone has their deep dark secrets, and if he has to get drunk enough to forget his pathetic attempts at playing the good, all-American, heterosexual husband in order to sleep, so be it. 

Taking a swig from the bottle, he shudders slightly at the harsh burning taste but sighs with relief as he feels the alcohol flowing throughout his body, giving him a sense of warmth and comfort. 

He knows one of these days he should probably work to stop drinking so much, but there’s just never a good time. Now he’s got the whole Harry thing to deal with, and then if they win the election, lord knows he’ll be stressed enough for the next four, or even eight, years. 

He leans against the island countertop, appreciating the cold of the marble against his bare skin where his shirt has ridden up in the back. They had only been gone a day and a half, but he always feels much more grounded and just himself when he’s at home. 

As he takes another pull, he hears footsteps and giggles approaching. Into the kitchen walk Jade and Perrie, the former dressed in only a short red kimono robe and the latter in a large t-shirt and boxers. 

They don’t seem surprised at all to find Louis there and just saunter up to him. Jade jumps onto the counter on his right side while Perrie leans against the counter on his left side. 

Rather than any formalities or greetings, Louis takes one more gulp of liquor and then holds it out to the girls, silently offering them some. The girls exchange a knowing glance that has Louis slightly curious but not curious enough to ask, before Jade reaches out and takes the bottle, taking a generous swig. 

She moves to pass it to Perrie who shakes her head ‘no,’ so Jade passes it back to Louis. He looks down at the big bottle in his hands, the brown liquid sloshing around at the bottom as he swings it around slightly. 

The three remain in the kitchen, a silence settling over the room, Louis keeping his eyes set on the floor instead of his wife and her lover. 

He can hear and feel them moving and gesturing next to him, but he doesn’t bother looking up. He’s not particularly in the mood to make conversation. He’ll share his Scotch but beyond that, he’s too tired and dejected over the whole Harry situation to try to maintain friendly banter. 

After a few minutes of sitting in the tense silence, Jade finally speaks. “Lou, what’s got you so mopey and pouty?”

He makes deliberate eye contact with her as he lifts the bottle to his lips, swallowing down the last of the Scotch in several gulps, ignoring the burn as it goes down. He can’t really say why he’s choosing to be difficult right now and avoid the question, other than the fact that Jade is one of his oldest friends and he knows he can get away with it. 

Jade quirks an eyebrow at him, crossing her arms in front of her chest and waiting for him to answer the question. Louis’ never liked to be called out for his bullshit, yet somehow Jade has a perfect bullshit-radar and always knows when he’s feeling off. 

Finally he sighs, scrubbing his hand across his face and through his hair before turning to look at Jade. 

“I can’t stop thinking about Harry.”

Jade doesn’t look surprised by this, and when Louis glances back to Perrie, she also looks unphased. 

“And what’s the problem?” Jade prompts him, nudging his leg slightly with her foot. 

“I can’t very well start a bloody relationship right now, can I? Harry’s team has been hired all the way from England to tell me that basically me bloody love life has to be put on hold for possibly the next eight years.”

Apparently this does shock the girls because Jade’s eyebrows shoot to top of her forehead, and Perrie audibly gasps. 

“Relationship?” Perrie asks incredulously. “Love life? We knew you were smitten with him, but-- and I’ve known you how many years now, Louis?-- I’ve never known you to want a relationship with anybody.”

Jade nods enthusiastically. “Exactly. So you want Harry for more than a shag?”

Louis nods, looking back down at the floor. They’re right. He’s only ever properly dated three people in his life; two during uni and then one shortly after graduating law school. That relationship, needless to say, had been an utter disaster, what with Louis being publicly “straight.” 

And honestly, since then he had been content to only have flings. He’s a sexual person and had always enjoyed sex with no strings attached. It’s fun, it’s easy, but it’s definitely not what he had envisioned for his life. 

When he was a child, had he pictured finding a handsome husband, moving into a cute cottage with him, raising a little dog together, having adorable lovely children with him, and growing old and immensely happy with him? 

Sure. Of course. 

But he’s no longer a child, and even though his life has turned out differently than he had once dreamed, he has an incredibly successful career, provides for his family so his younger sisters and brother have an assured future, and is married to his best friend. 

He  _ is _ happy. It’s not as he had thought his life would turn out, but he’s still happy with it. 

And he’s really trained himself to believe that there just isn’t someone out there for him. That he wasn’t meant to find a soulmate. He’s come to terms with the fact that the only love of his life is his career, but there are so many positives that have stemmed from his career that he can’t complain. 

But since meeting Harry, the little Donny boy who had dreamed of finding his one true love has somehow reawakened. 

Being brought back into the moment by Jade’s voice, Louis looks up at her as she says, “Wow. I’m surprised. It’s just that…. ya know, when we got married, you had said you were fine with casual hook-ups.” 

She pauses for a moment to chuckle. 

“A typical conversation most husbands and wives are having, I’m sure,” she mutters seemingly to herself. “And you seemed so content the past several years, Lou. Plus, Harry isn’t exactly your type, is he? I thought you usually go for more of the ass-kissing, willing to suck up to you and worship you endlessly type?”

Lou squirms a little under Jade’s intense look, unable to ever lie to Jade and knowing she’s right. He scratches the back of his neck, acting at least a little embarrassed. 

“Yeah, he’s different, that’s for sure,” Louis murmurs, feeling his traitor face break into a smile just from thinking about Harry.

Perrie squeals next to him and throws her arms around him. “You  _ like  _ him… You want to  _ marry  _ him… You want him to have your  _ babies _ ,” she taunts as Jade claps her hands in glee. Louis blushes under their attention but doesn’t even attempt to argue with them. 

Jade notices this, having gotten used to Louis’ quick wit, sharp tongue, and proclivity to jump to defensiveness, and her jeers and taunts halt suddenly. 

“Shit, Lou. You really, really like him, don’t you?” she said in a much quieter voice.

Louis laughs with absolutely no humor, walking over and perusing the liquor cabinet for something else to drink. He sighs and pulls out a random bottle of bourbon, opening it immediately and taking a pull. He reckons he should stop drinking, but if he’s going to have this conversation with Jade and Perrie, he wants some liquid courage. 

“It doesn’t matter does it?” he says, pausing to take another gulp. “It’s not like I can do anything about it. Even if he were for some insane reason willing to give up his openly-gay, English lifestyle for me, I couldn’t feasibly be with him while being vice president. At least with you two,” he gestures with the bottle to the two women looking at him with mixed expressions of curiosity and pity, “Jade won’t be working as much in the public limelight, so you can make this work. But with me and Harry….” his voice trails off and he takes another gulp from the bottle. “It’s-- it’s never going to work.”

Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees Jade and Perrie exchange matching looks of pity, and right as he’s about to tell them that he doesn’t want their sympathy, they both wrap their arms around him, encasing him in a tight embrace. He surprises himself by melting into their touch, having not realized how much he needed some compassion and care right now. 

Being on the road, trying to sell yourself to the entire nation, is hard enough on its own. Add on to that the added stress of being way too emotionally invested in someone you can never be with, and it really takes a toll on you. 

“Yeah, it’s a fairytale romance, innit?” Louis says bitterly. “But the only long term relationship I’ll ever have is with me Scotch.”

Jade and Perrie pull away, and Jade slaps his arm harshly. 

“Oh boo hoo. Stop moping. You’re a grown man, for god’s sake. You like the guy, so go do something about that!” Jade says matter of factly, as if she wasn’t aware of all the complexities of their delicate situation. 

Louis sends her his sternest glare. “And what, pray tell, do you suggest I do about it?”

“I dunno, can’t go wrong with some big romantic gesture to show him how much you care.”

Louis scoffs and rolls his eyes. “That’s all well and good, but even if he were to respond kindly to my romantic advances, how could we ever deal with starting a relationship in the midst of all this election chaos?”

It’s Jade’s turn to roll her eyes at him, yanking the bourbon from his hand and taking a swig. “Well, Lou, honestly that’s something you’re going to have to work through with him. I’m not going to have the solution to  _ all _ your problems, am I?”

He laughs and shakes his head, grabbing the bottle back from her. In a much quieter, defeated tone than previously he says, “It just seems pointless. The odds of any of this working out for me are so low that why would I even bother trying and making a fool of meself?”

“Sure, there’s going to be issues. There’s a lot you have to sort out. But in 10, 20, 30 years down the road, when you’re even older, lonelier, and more cynical” --”oi!” Louis yelps out-- “how are you going to look back on this moment? Are you going to be glad you took a chance on love or are you forever going to regret letting this lovely boy slip right through your fingers?”

“But what about you? Your career? And Zayn’s? And everyone’s whose career is built around mine?” Louis whispers, the cracks in his confident politician armor really showing through. “It would be selfish to jeopardize everything you’ve worked for just because I have some crush!”

“Fuck our careers!” Jade yells. “And don’t belittle this to just a crush, Louis William.”

Louis stares at her, mouth agape, unsure if he just heard her correctly. “Fuck your careers?” he whispers incredulously. 

“Well, maybe I should use slightly different wording, come to think of it, but yeah basically. This really does not have to be something that is going to destroy anyone’s reputations or futures. If that’s what’s holding you back, love, then you’re just making excuses to hide from this.”

Now Louis really can’t believe what he’s hearing. He looks back and forth from Jade to Perrie, seeing them both sporting almost identical expressions of smug triumph, knowing he’s already lost this argument. 

He takes a moment to digest Jade’s words. She’s right that he’s been making excuses to postpone confronting his feelings in the case that he gets rejected or hurt. And this is the first man in years that he’s felt a real connection with, and he  _ will _ regret it if he doesn’t at least try to win Harry’s heart. 

“‘Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all,’ eh?” he mutters, face breaking into a grin. 

“Yes exactly!” Perrie exclaims at the same time that Jade says, “Ooh that’s good. Did Oprah say that?”

Louis chuckles fondly at his wife, smiling widely. He reaches out and pulls Perrie and Jade into a tight hug, kissing the tops of both their heads. 

“Thank you,” he whispers.

Jade squirms out of his tight embrace, giggling. “I’m not trying to help you! I did this for myself. I’ve known you long enough to know you’re absolutely insufferable when you’re in one of your moods!”

“One of my moods?! How dare you? I am going to be Vice President of the United States of America! Show some respect!” Louis pretends to be outraged.

Perrie rests a hand on Louis’ arm. “And you’ll be great at it, love. Now go get your man.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry hasn’t been this nervous in his recent memory. He keeps telling himself that he’s being ridiculous; he’s gone up against monarchs, powerful mafia members, disgustingly wealthy business tycoons, and none of them ever had him as anxious as he’s feeling right now.

As he turns the car onto a side street, he’s taken back to the first (and only other time) he’s driven this route; that fateful early morning which had brought the bane of his existence (and also possibly the love of his life) into his life. 

The gate surrounding the house is open, probably in anticipation of his arrival. Driving up to the front door, he repeats in his head that he’s only here because he wants to make sure that Louis understands his message, and meeting in person is probably the best way of making that happen. 

Harry had to admit that he was surprised when he received a text from Louis late last night, asking him over for dinner tonight. Harry had gone through a rollercoaster of emotions before responding; first giddiness at the realization that Louis was thinking about him-- meaning he hadn’t just been another check mark on Louis’ extensive conquests list-- then anger at Louis for tempting him and anger at himself for so easily falling back into his obsession with Louis, and finally determination with the decision he would have to tell Louis face-to-face that this thing between them could not go any further. 

He gives himself a bit of a pep talk as he walks up to the front door, reminding himself to stay strong and stick to the plan. Not even those marvelous blue eyes will distract him. 

Get in, get out. Don’t get distracted. That’s the plan. 

He rings the doorbell, trying to shove down the nerves threatening to overtake his mind. The door swings open, revealing possibly the most beautiful scene Harry has ever witnessed. 

He’s shocked as he takes in the ambiance of the front hallway; candles fill the room with a relaxed, inviting light, snaking up the staircase and on top of every surface in the hall to give the room a more formal feel. And the rose petals strewn across the floor, in a path leading down and around the corner, suggest a more intimate setting. 

After soaking up the romantic scene before him, Harry’s eyes finally settle on the man behind this magic, standing off to the side behind the front door. 

Louis looks absolutely stunning; he’s stood in tight black skinny jeans and a deep maroon shirt with a swooping neckline, showing off his ridiculously sexy collarbones and  _ It Is What It Is _ tattoo. He has a slight smile on his face, which quickly breaks into a full grin as he takes in Harry’s appearance. 

Harry had come straight from work, so he’s still in his professional get up. He shifts his weight from foot to foot under Louis’ intense gaze. Part of him wants to tug at his necktie, which suddenly feed too tight, but he doesn’t want Louis to know how much he’s affected by merely Louis looking at him in that way. 

Finally Louis’ eyes settle on Harry’s, and Louis clears his throat before saying, “I’m really glad you’re here.” 

The tone Louis uses is almost a bit shy and demure, which strikes Harry as out of character, making Harry feel much too endeared that he has this special effect on Louis

Harry swallows, feeling overwhelmed by the entire scene laid out before his eyes. He’s been in the presence of Louis for only a couple seconds, and he’s already losing focus on the reason he decided to come over.

Harry blinks a couple times, trying to clear his head of lustful thoughts. He needs to stick to the plan. Get in, get out. Don’t get distracted.

“Right, Mr. Tomlinson, about that,” Harry says, going into full-business mode.

Louis’ eyes crinkle as he laughs, shaking his head at the ground. He steps forward, raking his eyes up and down Harry’s chest, before saying, “I’d definitely like to try having you call me that in the bedroom, love, but I think ‘Louis’ will do just fine for now.”

Harry ignores the heat flaring in his cheeks, stepping fully into the hall and shutting the front door behind himself. “I think we need to talk.”

Louis’ eyes snap up from where they’ve been lingering around Harry’s thighs and stare intently into Harry’s. 

“You’re right, We need to talk before we do anything else.” He turns on his heel and starts walking towards the kitchen, Harry frozen to the spot. 

Louis glances back over his shoulder, barely sparing a “come on,” before turning the corner and vanishing from Harry’s line of sight. 

Harry silently curses his traitorous body as he immediately follows after Louis, feeling like he shouldn’t be so quick to obey everything Louis says, so easily slipping into this immensely overwhelming feeling of wanting to do whatever Louis asks of him. 

Not for the first, or last time, this evening, Harry finds himself totally frozen to the spot as he rounds the corner and sees how Louis’ set up the dining room. 

There’s fairy lights twinkling around the perimeter of the ceiling, petals scattered around the floor, and heart-shaped candles arranged throughout the room. The table is laid out elegantly with champagne and some sort of elaborate roast between the chairs, a roaring fireplace situated right by the table.

Louis’ standing next to the table, a big bouquet of flowers held out in front of him, anxiously shifting from foot to foot. 

Harry can’t form any words, only capable of opening and closing his mouth in awe a few times before he walks forward and dumbly snatches the bouquet from Louis, bringing them up to sniff. 

He’s not sure what to think, what to say, what to do. He’s blown away by the whole thing; the cliched romantic dinner and flowers somehow don’t seem so cliched but rather entirely heartfelt and genuine.

Louis, who in the little time since he’s known Harry has always been able to truly understand how Harry’s feeling and what Harry needs in each moment, doesn’t pressure Harry to say anything, aware that Harry needs to take his time taking in this whole thing. 

Louis had gone for an over-the-top spectacle, unlike any other second date (first? Did sleeping together count as a first date?), and he had expected Harry to be overwhelmed by his grand gestures; that was his intention after all.

As Harry tries to bottle up the swell of happiness he feels pressing the flowers to his face, he sees Louis step forward and pull out a chair from the table, gesturing for Harry to sit, which he does silently and complacently, still unsure of how to feel about this whole evening.

Harry eyes Louis warily as he sits down, allowing Louis to pass him a glass of champagne and a plate filled with various delicious-smelling meats and veggies. 

He stays silent as he bites into the food, his eyes widening slightly in awe at how  _ good _ everything tastes, not that he’s going to voice this opinion and boost Louis’ already conflated ego. 

Besides, Louis’ the one who invited him here. And although Harry has his plan— which he is absolutely and completely going to stick to.  _ Get in. Get out. Don’t get distracted _ — he’s intrigued to see where Louis intends for this evening to go. 

And, so, Harry remains silent, waiting for Louis to initiate any conversation. 

Harry’s so caught up in his thoughts, it takes him a moment to realize that Louis hasn’t even picked up his silverware to start eating. Rather, he’s sitting across from Harry just  _ staring,  _ staring intently at Harry as if he’s the most beautiful piece of artwork to ever exist. 

It’s strange for Harry. Although he’s used to commanding a room in his professional career, he’s not used to this intense scrutiny Louis’ put him under. He doesn’t think anyone’s ever looked at him quite like this, like he’s the most valuable thing to be cherished. 

He squirms slightly, unsure of how to behave with all this attention on him. He’s more than used to being the center of attention, but that’s usually because he’s speaking for someone else more important. He’s always an accessory, an intermediary, the messenger. He’s important to be looked at because he is an ends to a means. He gets people who give him attention the things they want. They look at him because he’s  _ useful _ . 

But the way Louis looks at him isn’t like this. Louis’ looking at him like he’s the most special person, and it’s intimidating to be so stripped down and surveyed in such a raw, intimate way. 

Harry’s a confident young man, and he knows he’s attractive. So he’s very familiar with the lustful gazes that follow him wherever he goes, but the way Louis is looking at him is even beyond that. 

It strikes Harry that he feels as if Louis is looking at the  _ real _ Harry Styles, a part of himself Harry has worked hard to keep hidden…. in order to separate his personal from his professional life but moreso in order to avoid having to face whoever the  _ real _ Harry Styles even is. 

So Louis’ intense gaze is a little much for Harry; although he’s been intimate with Louis once before, Harry’s unsure why this relative stranger looks at him with more caring and understanding than the people Harry’s been working with for years. 

Harry feels himself blushing beneath Louis’ gaze, and he’s pleasantly shocked to feel butterflies in his stomach followed by a spark of pleasurable heat coursing through his veins. He’s not sure what it is about Louis, but being around him has made Harry enjoy the way he’s constantly feeling flustered and a bit embarrassed. 

He briefly makes eye contact with Louis, oddly liking the way he feels unusually small when Louis looks at him. Louis’ face breaks into a wide smile as his eyes connect with Harry’s, and then he’s looking down and clearing his throat. 

“So, Harry,” Louis begins as he picks up his fork and starts pushing around the food on his plate, for the first time that night letting on to any nerves he might possible be feeling. “I think we have a lot to talk about.” 

This brings Harry back to the moment, and he looks down, grimacing slightly with the exaggerated effort to avoid Louis’ naturally seductive manner. 

“Yes… yes. Yes, I completely agree,” Harry says. “That’s why I came over. To say a few things to you that really need to be said.”

“Good!” Louis exclaims, visibly relaxing a bit at Harry’s comment. “Okay, so the other night when we were together, I noticed a few things that we both seemed to find…. arousing, and I think after proper discussion, we could really reach a… mutually beneficial”-- Louis’ bright blue eyes seemingly glitter as he says these two words-- “relationship.”

He pauses and looks at Harry questioningly, as if expecting a reply, but Harry’s thrown off. Obviously he knew that Louis was interested in him-- he had made that very clear since the first moment they met-- but he hadn’t expected Louis to want to repeat the other night, let alone go any further. Louis’ a playboy; he doesn’t sleep with the same person more than once.

Even though Harry doesn’t want to admit it, he’s pretty pleased to know that Louis wants more with him, in whatever weird form it is that Louis is hinting at. 

But that’s not the plan. And Harry excels at sticking to plans, so that’s what he does. 

Pushing his plate away, Harry folds his arms across his chest and looks pointedly to Louis. “The only relationship we have here is a  _ professional  _ relationship.” 

Louis smirks, eyes twinkling as he quirks an eyebrow at Harry. “That’s not what your body was saying the other night.” 

Harry blushes fiercely, making him feel even more aroused with this obvious display of uncontrollable emotion, but he pushes through, pulling out the big guns. 

“Mr. Tomlinson, this is only, and can never exceed, a strictly working partnership. You hired me to handle your, uh, how do I put this delicately, controversial lothario ways. So why would I do anything to directly sabotage my client’s success?”

Louis sighs, setting down the silverware he’s merely been playing with, and moves his hand forward instinctively, almost as if he means to clasp Harry’s hand but thinks better of it in the last moment. 

“Harry,” he practically whispers. “You’re saying all of these things that we both know you’re  _ supposed _ to say, but is this actually what you want?”

He holds up his hand to stop Harry as Harry opens his mouth to respond. 

“Not what you want for your client, but what you want for  _ you _ ?”

Harry swallows, unsure of how to respond. Louis allows him time to contemplate, not pushing him for an answer. 

Finally Harry answers, in a much smaller, pathetic tone that he had intended, avoiding Louis’ gaze. 

“It really does not matter what I want, Mr. Tomlinson.”

Harry knows that he’s intentionally addressing Louis incorrectly, and although he definitely does not mind the way it makes Louis flush, he tells himself it’s strictly because he is trying to keep the atmosphere as professional as possible. 

Louis gets up from his chair and crosses around the table until he reaches Harry, where he drops down to one knee and gently places his hands on Harry’s knees. Harry continues staring down at the ground, momentarily distracted by how much bigger his hand looks when placed directly next to Louis’, feeling slightly ashamed that Louis has this effect on him that makes him so quiet and demure, but more than anything, feeling inappropriately aroused for a situation he’s trying his hardest to keep professional. 

Louis absentmindedly strokes his thumb against Harry’s thigh where it’s resting. 

“It absolutely matters what you want. That is the most important thing, no matter the situation.” His voice drops to a barely audible tone, and Harry ignores the way his breath hitches as he notices how soft and lovely Louis’ voice is. 

“What do you want, Harry?”

Harry sighs deeply continuing to avoid Louis’ eyes. He doesn’t know what it is about Louis that makes him trust him so completely, but Harry hears himself saying, “It doesn’t matter what I want.” 

Harry hurries on to add, “You didn’t hire me to do what I want; you hired me to do what’s best for your career. And being with me is probably the worst thing I could advise you,” he ends with a humorless, self-deprecating laugh. 

Harry’s still staring intently at the ground, so it’s a bit of a shock to him when he feels Louis’ soft fingers under his chin, stroking hesitantly before tilting his chin up so the two men are forced to look at each other. 

For the third time, Louis breathes out, “what do you want, Harry?”

Letting out a shaky breath, Harry looks directly into Louis’ shining bright eyes, so wide and focused on him, looking at Harry as if he’s the most important person. And in that moment, Harry puts all his doubts and worries aside.

“You.”

There’s a moment after Harry says it, where the weight of that single word floats in the air and hangs between them. 

Simultaneously, almost as if reading each others’ minds, they surge forward into a heated kiss, immediately passionate and instantly yearning for more contact. 

Harry’s still sat in his chair with Louis crouched before him, and it’s not particularly conducive to making out, but both men are so overcome with lust and desire that neither cares how awkward the positioning is. 

Not removing his mouth from Louis’, Harry eventually slides off the chair until he’s kneeling on the ground, too. The moment his knees touch the floor, Louis’ hands grip his hips and pull him forward until their chests and crotches are pressed firmly together. 

Harry moans slight into Louis’ mouth, treasuring the touch of their bodies and allowing himself to momentarily forget all his qualms about starting a relationship of any sort with Louis in favor of the current reality of their heated touches. 

He fumbles to hurriedly yank at the hem of Louis’ shirt, trying to get him undressed as soon as possible. Louis, though, apparently has other plans, because he grips Harry’s wrists, not tightly but firmly, not really restricting him from further movement but the suggestion alone that he can’t take off Louis’ shirt is enough for Harry to give up control. 

Louis releases Harry’s wrists to stroke through his long curls, only using the most gentle of touches. Harry feels mildly disappointed; he hadn’t realized until now, but since their previous night together, Harry’s been  _ needing _ another rough fuck that only Louis can provide him. 

Harry unconsciously whines against Louis’ lips, feeling a bit pathetic with his sudden rush of neediness. 

“Wanna fuck you in front of the fire,” Louis breathes into Harry’s ear, sending chills running down the latter’s spine. “Want to make you feel so good you feel the heat of your pleasure stronger than you feel the heat of the fire.”

“Fuck,” Harry whimpers, his body instantaneously responding to Louis’ words. “Please.”

WIth that, Louis stands up and offers his hand to help Harry up. He leads them both over to stand in front of the fire. Even though the fire gives a beautiful glow over the entire room, Harry’s eyes don’t stray from Louis’ once. 

Very gently, Louis begins undressing Harry, ignoring the way Harry’s chest rises and falls so strongly under the touch of his fingertips. He works the necktie off first and drapes it over the back of a nearby chair. Then his fingers deftly undo all the buttons of Harry’s shirt until Louis’ able to slide his hands along Harry’s shoulders and tug the shirt off of him. 

He makes quick work of Harry’s belt, smirking but not stopping when he hears Harry’s breath hitch at the sound of the belt cracking as Louis pulls it off quickly. In just another moment Harry’s pants are pulled down, and Louis’ crouching before him to tug off his shoes and socks. 

Harry’s trembling with anticipation, feeling so vulnerable, yet so turned on, standing completely naked in front of Louis, who’s now stepped back and raking his eyes over every inch of Harry’s body. His gaze is so strong, so magnetic that Harry swears he feels heat rising throughout his body everywhere Louis looks. 

Finally Louis tears his eyes from Harry’s exquisite body and says, “Hands and knees.”

It takes Harry a moment to register, having been so consumed in the thick tension of the moment, but he quickly scrambles to obey Louis’ command. 

When he’s on the ground, he watches as Louis walks behind him and out of view. Harry’s tempted to turn his head and follow Louis’ path with his eyes, but he’s not sure if he’s allowed to do that, and the mere thought that Louis controls what Harry can and cannot do sends a burst of arousal spiking in Harry’s gut. 

So rather than looking, Harry focuses on listening for any sound that could indicate what Louis’ doing. But Louis’ silent as a ghost, and for a moment Harry almost panics, thinking he’s left him all alone, until he sees Louis’ shoes walk back into his line of eyesight. 

Harry quickly looks up at Louis and gasps audibly when he sees Louis standing in front of him, running Harry’s necktie through his fingers. 

Louis bites his lip when he hears Harry’s gasp, not wanting to let on how affected he is, trying to maintain his cool, unfazed composure. 

He leans down and grips Harry’s jaw tightly in one hand, forcing him to look up into Louis’ eyes. 

“Would you like if I blindfolded you with your own necktie, Harry? The very tie you wear to work?” 

He searches Harry’s eyes purposefully, trying to gauge Harry’s reaction to his words, because Harry is so shocked and aroused he has troubles forming words for a few moments. 

“Please, yes please,” Harry moans out, and if it were anyone else with him, Harry would feel embarrassed of how wrecked and whiny his voice already sounds, but for some reason with Louis, it makes him feel sexy. 

“Good boy,” Louis murmurs. 

As Louis places the tie over Harry’s eyes, turning his world into almost complete darkness, he leans down so that his lips are right near Harry’s ear while he ties it behind Harry’s head. 

“I want you to think of me when you wear this from now on. When you’re at work, bossing people around, telling everyone what to do. I want you to remember the way I had you moaning and begging for me even before I’ve properly touched you.” 

Harry shivers and tries to stifle the whimper he emits, leaning in the direction of Louis’ voice. Now that he can’t see, his other senses feel heightened, and he has an even deeper urge for physical contact. 

But Louis’ presence is suddenly gone, and Harry’s helpless to do anything about it. His arms and legs shake a little as he waits to see what Louis’ going to do next.

He startles a bit when he feels Louis’ fingertips trailing along his inner thighs, but he quickly recovers and moves his hips back, inviting Louis to do what he pleases with him. Louis’ gentle touch is gone, though, and he’s gripping Harry’s hip tightly. 

“Don’t move unless I tell you to,” Louis grits out, and Harry nods enthusiastically, hoping if he does what Louis says Louis will be quicker in giving Harry what he wants. 

Louis continues stroking softly and teasingly along Harry’s thighs, murmuring words of praise, of how beautiful Harry looks like this, so softly that Harry would almost assume that Louis’ talking to himself rather than to Harry. It makes Harry preen with pride, knowing that Louis sees him as such a gorgeous, extraordinary prize. 

Finally Louis’ hands are on Harry’s arse, his touch still much too gentle for the hot desire whipping throughout Harry’s body. Harry feels Louis’ thumbs stroking circles along his heated skin, and he lets out a loud gasp when Louis abruptly uses his thumbs to pull Harry open, exposing his hole to the fire-warmed air of the room. 

Holding Harry open like that, Louis leans forward until his breath tickles against Harry’s sensitive neck, causing goosebumps to appear on Harry’s skin. 

“We have a lot to talk about, Harry, and I was hoping we’d discuss this over dinner, but you’re just so fucking hard to resist.”

Harry shivers and arches into Louis’ touch, trying to convey how much he wants Louis right now but unable to find the words to voice his desires. 

“We definitely need to talk about this later,” Louis’ raspy voice intones. “But right now, there are about a million things I want to do to you, and I don’t think one of them has either of our mouths available for much talking.”

Suddenly there’s a flick of something warm and wet against Harry’s rim, so quick that he could have imagined it if it weren’t for the way his cock twitches and spurts out precome with the touch.

“Tell me if you want me to stop at any point,” Louis breathes out, and then his mouth is right on Harry’s hole, sucking and teasing at his rim. Harry yelps out and instinctively pushes back on Louis’ face, wanting more and more of this incredible feeling.

Louis’ mouth works Harry over, sucking, licking, flicking, and nibbling in various speeds against Harry’s most sensitive, intimate part. 

Harry tries to curl his fingers and grip the carpet, feeling overwhelmed by just how good it all is and wanting something to grip onto, to ground him. He knows that he’s being  _ loud _ , all sorts of moans and gasps and jumbled up words falling from his lips, but he’s so concentrated on where Louis’ mouth touches him that he barely even registers his sounds. 

Since he can’t see anything, all he can do is  _ feel _ , and holy fuck it feels incredible. Just the thought of Louis on his knees behind him, spreading Harry open, and fucking him with his mouth sends Harry hurtling closer to his orgasm. 

Almost as if Louis can read his mind, he pulls off of Harry’s heated skin to briefly say, “tell me when you’re close” before diving right back in. 

He’d quickly gotten Harry relaxed and greedy for his orgasm, so it doesn’t take much more for Louis to begin working his tongue  _ inside _ Harry, until he’s thoroughly fucking Harry relentlessly with his tongue. 

Harry’s head drops to his arms, causing him to arch his back even more and press against Louis’ head. He can’t find the strength or desire to hold his upper body up, so he lets himself sink to the plush carpet while he revels in the way Louis’ mouth just seems to know exactly what he needs. 

Soon Louis’ pulling away to nibble on and suck love bites into Harry’s sensitive inner thighs. Harry’s about to protest-- well, more likely to beg-- for Louis to keep eating him out, but then he feels Louis circling a finger against his rim, his mouth never leaving Harry’s thighs. 

Harry cries out as Louis pushes into him, feeling so desperately close to coming, if Louis would only give him a little bit more. 

Louis pumps his finger in and out of Harry a few times, loosening him up, before he removes his mouth from Harry’s thighs and starts sucking and licking at Harry’s rim around his finger. 

That’s all it takes for Harry to feel the telltale surge of arousal through his entire body, alerting him to his imminent release. 

“Gonna come,” he manages to gasp out, rocking his hips back against Louis’ face and finger. He’s proud of himself for remembering Louis’ instructions despite being fucked out of his mind with only Louis’ tongue so far, but just as he says it, Louis’ suddenly gone, removing all contact from Harry.

Harry’s so surprised with the sudden loss of touch right before he was about to come, that he swings his head around, instinctively trying to look for Louis despite being blindfolded. 

“You’re not going to come until I tell you to,” Louis’ voice comes from somewhere close behind Harry, which just makes him whimper with the thought that Louis’ close enough to give him the relief he craves but he’s purposefully not. 

There’s a sudden sharp sound filling the room and pain erupting on Harry’s ass. It takes him a moment to realize he’s been spanked, and then the thought of it has him moaning and rocking his hips, asking for more.

“Answer me, Harry. Are you going to come before I say you can?”

Harry whimpers and presses his face into the carpet, feeling like he might crawl out of his own skin if he doesn’t get to come soon. But then he’s pushing himself up to all fours and gasping out, “no, please.”

“Please what, baby?” The term of endearment going straight to Harry’s cock. 

Harry feels himself flushing with shame at how desperate he is for Louis, but he’s beyond caring at this point. 

“Please touch me. I won’t come. I promise. But I need you to touch me.” 

“Okay, baby, since you asked so nicely.” 

Harry swears he can hear the smirk in Louis’ voice, but he doesn’t get much time to think about it because Louis’ mouth is back on his hole. This time he doesn’t tease; he fucks his tongue in deeply, using his hands to pull Harry’s hips back against him so that he’s as deep as possible. 

And so it goes. Three more times Harry comes close to his orgasm, and three more times Louis stops right as Harry’s about to let go. 

Harry’s never felt anything like this before. Normally men aren’t capable of refusing Harry anything, and he’s never been denied an orgasm like this before, let alone four orgasms. 

By the fourth time Harry’s screaming out, “Close! So close!” it’s not even a surprise to him when Louis pulls away, leaving him so close to the edge but not close enough. That doesn’t mean, though, that Harry’s any less disappointed than he was the first time it happened and caught him off guard. 

He’s been hard so long that he can barely hold himself up, his arms and legs shaking madly, his abs quivering with the intensity of all he’s feeling, his breath coming out in loud pants that fill the room.

Around the third almost-orgasm, he had started crying, not because it hurt but because it was just so much to be experiencing and he was just so overwhelmed. This was also something new for Harry: crying during sex. And just like the begging, he vaguely registers that maybe he should be embarrassed, but he’s so overcome with how good he feels that he doesn’t even question it.

It takes a moment for Harry to slow his heartbeat and catch his breath enough to not be gasping out, and he slowly forces himself back onto his hands and knees, resuming the position Louis had put him in, bracing for yet another round of Louis working him up so much only to leave him hanging right when he needs Louis the most. 

To his surprise, Harry feels Louis’ hand tentatively stroking across his cheek, and Harry sighs heavily, leaning into Louis’ touch and basically letting Louis support him. He’s so exhausted and so out of his mind with need that he practically melts into Louis’ touch, humming in contentment to have received even this small, completely non-sensual physical contact. 

Harry feels Louis reaching behind him and working out the knot in the necktie. Soon Louis is removing the makeshift blindfold, and Harry has to blink his eyes several times to get adjusted to the lighting in the room again. 

It takes him another few moments to realize that Louis’ crouched before him, wiping away his tears and stroking his cheeks, whispering how good Harry was, how amazing he tasted, how happy Louis is to have gotten to give Harry all that. 

And it must be the four almost-orgasms, but Harry’s feeling so much more emotional and sensitive than he ever allows himself during no-strings sex, and with the kind praises falling from Louis’ mouth-- that beautiful, talented, god-send of a mouth-- Harry feels tears welling in his eyes and spilling down his cheeks where Louis had just dried his previous tears. 

Louis smiles softly at Harry, his demeanor so different from earlier when he was ordering Harry around, controlling Harry’s body. 

He cups Harry’s cheeks in both his hands and gently presses his lips against Harry’s, making Harry gasp and moan into the kiss as he tastes himself on Louis. It’s so dirty, so intimate, so much for Harry right now he doesn’t even know what to do with himself. Luckily Louis seems to understand this, and he’s more than willing to be the one to decide what Harry needs to do.

Harry feels his heart pick up speed as he realizes how much he’s willing to trust Louis, to hand over the reigns to this man and let Louis make all the decisions for him. He supposes he should be scared, but it’s really such an incredible moment of trust that Harry feels the complete opposite of afraid. 

“Come here, baby,” Louis says in a louder but still soft tone, making sure that Harry can hear him. 

Harry’s too exhausted to stand up and he’s desperately aware of his throbbing hard on, so he crawls the few feet where Louis’ moved, directly in front of the fireplace now. 

Louis’ quickly undressing himself, and Harry bites his bottom lip hard, whimpering as he finally sees Louis’ beautiful, perfect erect cock. 

Louis sits down and pats his thighs. Harry quickly scrambles into his lap, throwing his arms over Louis’ shoulders and tangling his fingers in Louis’ hair. Louis’ hands settle on Harry’s hips, and Harry hungrily grinds down, gasping as their hard cocks glide next to each other. 

Louis smiles at Harry, and Harry has to look away, blushing fiercely at how Louis looks at him as if he’s the only thing that matters in the world. 

As Harry looks away from Louis, he moves his head in just the right way to open up his neck and allow Louis access to the sensitive spot below his ear. Louis mouths along Harry’s neck, moving too quickly to leave any love bites but giving each spot enough attention to make Harry rocking his hips in desperation, wanting to get off in any way possible. 

“You’re so beautiful,” Louis whispers into Harry’s neck, his mouth never leaving Harry’s skin for long. “I can’t believe you’re real and that I get you like this. You’re absolutely incredible.” 

Harry’s not proud of the sounds he’s making, and he hides his face in Louis’ shoulder to quiet himself and prevent Louis from seeing how deeply he blushed at his words. 

Louis loops one arm around Harry’s lower back, holding him securely against his chest, while he uses the other arm to reach out and pat around until he finds his pants. He quickly locates the lube he had stashed in his back pocket, and Harry wants to make a joke about it being a bit presumptuous for Louis to assume he’d need lube, but he quickly forgets the jest as Louis thrusts up against Harry. 

Louis squirts some lube and spreads it generously over his fingers. He immediately shoves one finger in Harry, not bothering to go slowly as he’s already opened Harry thoroughly with his mouth and finger for what feels like hours. But they hadn’t used lube earlier, so Louis wants to make sure that Harry is open and relaxed enough to ensure he doesn’t get hurt when they go further. 

It doesn’t take long before Louis’ three fingers deep, Harry gripping Louis’ shoulders and digging his fingernails in as he rides Louis’ fingers. Louis intentionally avoids Harry’s prostate, not wanting Harry to come yet, and it’s driving Harry absolutely crazy. 

Louis considers adding a fourth lubed-up finger, knowing that Harry can take it and would probably love it, but they’re both much too ready to fuck for Louis to test this out tonight. 

Removing his fingers completely from Harry, Louis ignores Harry’s frustrated cries as he searches for his pants once more, barely suppressing a cry of triumph as he finds the condom he was looking for. 

Harry stops whining when he sees the condom, and he quickly grabs it out of Louis’ slippery fingers. He works the condom over Louis’ length in record time, and Louis hastily uses the rest of the lube over his erection, so crazy with want for Harry that he doesn’t attempt any finesse or show. 

Harry literally bats away Louis’ hand, having no patience anymore, and he swiftly drops down on Louis’ cock, both letting out loud moans as Harry sinks down until he’s seated fully in Louis’ lap. 

Louis holds him close, chests flushed together, rubbing soothing circles into Harry’s back, giving him as much time as he needs to adjust. 

“I’m good, I’m good,” Harry breathes out, rocking his hips frantically. Louis grabs him tightly, making him stop more from the look he gives Harry than from his actual touch. 

Louis lays back against the ground and guides Harry’s hands until they’re resting on his chest, giving Harry some leverage to ride Louis’ cock. 

“You’ve been so good to me,” Louis says as he strokes Harry’s soft thighs, now littered with bites and bruises. “Want you to fuck yourself on my cock. You can come whenever.” 

Harry’s eyes widen at this, feeling so pleased to have finally gotten permission to reach his release that he doesn’t waste any time pushing up and slamming his body down on Louis’.

He fucks himself so hard and fast on Louis’ cock, bouncing up and down in various angles until he gets the spot just right and he’s throwing his head back, eyes squeezed shut in bliss. 

Louis lays beneath him, getting the breath knocked out of him both by how fast Harry is fucking himself and simply from how beautiful Harry looks seated upon his cock like a throne. The glow of the fire lights up one side of Harry and creates beautiful, intricate shades on the other side. Louis swears he never has, and he never will, see a sight more stunning. 

Louis can tell when Harry starts getting too tired, so he puts his feet firmly on the ground and starts thrusting up into him, meeting Harry bounce for bounce. 

Harry collapses against him, taking a moment to breath while Louis fucks into him before Harry props himself up on his elbows, placed on either side of Louis’ head. 

Harry’s hair falls over both of their faces like a little curtain. They’re panting into each other’s mouths, neither really able to maintain a kiss for long before they’re moaning and gasping again. 

In what feels like an incredibly short time, while simultaneously perhaps the longest wait of his life, Harry’s soon gasping out, “close, so close.” 

He sits back up and starts jerking his own cock, only needing a few strokes before his head is thrown back in ecstasy and he’s coming all over Louis’ chest. 

Between the way that Harry tightens around Louis and how beautiful he looks while coming, it takes but three more thrusts before Louis’ coming hard inside the condom. 

Coming down from his orgasm, Harry winces as he pulls himself off Louis’ cock, immediately collapsing next to Louis, his head against Louis’ shoulder. He curls up in a little ball and throws a leg between Louis’, his back to the fireplace. 

Louis wraps both arms around Harry and hugs him close, not caring at all about the cum splattered on his stomach. He can’t help but kiss the crown of Harry’s head over and over, nuzzling into Harry’s sweat-drenched hair and telling him over and over how beautiful he is. 

Harry’s not asleep; his eyes are still open, but it takes him awhile to feel awake enough to remember that they’re laying on Louis’ dining room floor in his house he shares with his wife. The whole situation is just so absurd, and Harry’s so exhausted from probably the best orgasm of his life, that he can’t stop the hysterical giggles that fall from his mouth. He rolls his head into Louis’ chest, trying to stifle the laughs, but he just can’t stop. 

The thing is, he just feels so goddamn happy in the moment, a happiness he hasn’t felt in ages. He feels totally carefree, and even if he had something to care about, he’s pretty certain that he could just tell Louis and Louis would care about it for him, letting Harry relax and savor this moment for however long as he needed.

It’s a good several more minutes before Louis’ shaking him slightly and whispering, “Love, we should probably get up. I don’t want you to hurt your back from sleeping on the floor.” 

It’s so simple yet so kind and thoughtful, and he’s just so well-fucked out, that Harry thinks he might cry once more. Luckily he controls his emotions enough to blink back a few tears and simply nods into Louis’ chest, letting Louis move them both into an upright sitting position. 

Harry stays on the floor and watches as Louis scrambles around, wiping himself off and grabbing their clothes. He doesn’t think twice about their nakedness as he follows Louis upstairs and to his bedroom, flopping down immediately into the middle of the soft bed. Louis chuckles and shakes his head fondly as he wipes off Harry, too, and then maneuvers Harry’s long limbs under the blankets.

Harry’s almost asleep already as Louis turns out the lights and slips into the bed behind him, wrapping his arms around Harry and holding him close. And he’s not sure whether he dreamed it or not, but the last thing Harry thinks he remembers is Louis’ soft, angelic voice whispering, “Why do I already feel like I could fall in love with you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Things are working out for our favorite couple..... or are they? Drama will ensue next chapter that test Harry and Louis' budding, already tenuous relationship.


End file.
